Effect of varying dietary energy levels supplemented with ginger or probiotics on hematology and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens in semi-arid environment

Abstract

High cost of feed ingredients especially energy and protein sources have been a major problem to the poultry industry. There has been increasing interest in the use of plant based feed additives and probiotics in feeds to enhance efficiency and productivity .The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of different energy levels supplemented with ginger and probiotic on blood and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens. A total of 144 birds were weighed and randomly allotted to six (6) dietary treatments groups of 24 birds per treatment in complete randomized design (CRD), Each treatment was replicated four times with six (6) birds per replicate. Six experimental diets were fed for the starter and finisher phases respectively. The first three diets contained ginger (5g/kg) while the last three contained probiotic (0.505g/kg) at three energy levels (3100, 2900, and 2700 ME/kcal/kg) respectively. The experimental diets were fed ad libitum for eight weeks. The results for the hematological parameters revealed significant (P<0.05) difference in packed cell volume (PCV), hemoglobin (Hb), red blood corpuscle (RBC), Neutrophil, mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH). Ginger had better influence on hematology compared to probiotics. The result for the carcass indices revealed that birds on high energy probiotic diet had significantly (P<0.05) higher plucked weight, thigh, neck, breast muscle and abdominal fat weight. Low energy probiotic supplemented group had the least feed cost/kg gain. It is concluded that ginger and probiotic supplementation at different energy level did not have adverse effect on the blood constituent and carcass characteristic of broiler chicken.