Effect of Mixture of Neem and Bitter Leaf Extract Inclusion in the Drinking Water on the Growth and Carcass Characteristics of Broiler Chicken

Abstract

A study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of neem and bitter leaf extracts in drinking water as a natural feed additive for broiler chicken on feed intake, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio (FCR) and carcass cut parameters. Unsexed one hundred ninety-two days-old Cobb 500 broiler chicks with an initial weight of 42.16±0.65 gm (mean± SD) were randomly distributed to the four treatments each with three replications in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The treatments were inclusion of neem and bitter (powder a mixture of 1:1 ratio) extracts at 0 ml, 2 ml, 4ml and 6 ml per litter of water for T1, T2, T3 and T4, respectively. Commercial broilers diet that contained 22 and 18% CP and 3050 and 3250 kcal/kg ME for starter and finisher phases. Feed and water were offered ad libitum throughout the experimental period. Feed offered and refused were recorded every day and feed intake (FI) was calculated as the difference between the two. At the end of the trial, four broiler chickens were randomly picked up (2 male and 2 female) from each replication and slaughtered for carcass evaluation. Average daily feed intake during the entire period was 104.49, 116.07, 118.65 and 122.32 g/bird (SEM=2.03) for T1, T2, T3 and T4, respectively, and it was significantly higher (P<0.05) for T4 compared to other treatment groups. Body weight (BW) gain during the entire experimental period was 45.95, 56.72, 57.92 and 61.95 g/bird/day (SEM = 1.88) for T1, T2, T3 and T4, respectively and significantly higher for birds that treat under T4. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) during the entire period was 2.28, 2.04, 2.04 and 1.97 (SEM = 0.04) for T1, T2, T3 and T4, respectively and also best for T4. Dressed weight was 1663.84, 1983.60, 2092.90 and 2267.60 g (SEM = 65.58) for T1, T2, T3 and T4, respectively, and it was higher in T4 than other treatments. Giblets (heart, liver, and gizzard) and crop were significantly higher (P˂0.05) for T4. It was concluded that inclusion of neem and bitter leaf extracts in 6 ml/1 L of drinking water has a good natural feed additive for broiler production.