EFFECTS OF RAISING BROILER CHICKENS WITH NATURAL ANTIBIOTICS AND LOCALLY COMPOUNDED FEEDS ON THE PERFORMANCE, HAEMATOLOGY AND CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS IN MUBI, NORTH-EASTERN, NIGERIA

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of raising broiler chickens using natural
antibiotics with locally formulated feed on growth performance, haematology and carcass characteristics
of the broiler chickens. Five diets were formulated using locally available feed ingredients and the
natural antibiotics (Control-T1, T2-Bitter leaf, T3- Moringa leaf, T4- Jinger and T5- Garlic). 1kg of the
natural antibiotics was added in each diet. 200 unsexed Sayed broiler chicks were used from day-old
to finisher stage (one to eight weeks) in a completely randomized design of 5 treatments with 40 birds
per treatment replicated 4 times. Data were taken on growth performance, haematology and carcass
characteristics. Data obtained was analyzed using ANOVA as contained in SPSS. The results of growth
performance showed that, final live weight, total weight gain, daily weight gain and mortality were
highly significantly (P<0.001) different among the different natural antibiotics. However, initial live
weight, daily feed intake, total feed intake and feed conversion ratio were not affected. Haematology
of the broilers revealed tha, packed cell volume, protein, lymphocytes, neutrophils, mean corpuscular
volume and white blood cell (P<0.001), monocytes and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration
(P<0.01) and glucose (P<0.05) were significantly different among the various treatments. Results of
carcass characteristics depicted tha, breast, thigh, wind and liver weight (P<0.001), live weight
(P<0.01), carcass weight and spleen (P<0.005) were different among various treatment. However,
dressing percentage, back, gizzard, heart, kidney, lungs and proventriculus were not significantely
affected. It could be concluded and recommended that garlic because of its antimicrobial, antiinflammatory, immunomodulatory properties, reduce antibiotic resistance and improvement of bird
health than the other natural antibiotics is recommended for use.