Effects of Dietary Ginger (Zingiber Ofjicinale), Cinnamon (Cinnamomum), Synbiotic and Antibiotic Supplementation on Performance of Broilers

This study was conducted to evaluate the comparative effects of ginger, cinnamon and synbiotic on performance, carcass characteristics, blood biochemical and hematological parameters of broilers. A total of 224 male one-day-old broiler chicks were assigned at random to 7 treatments with 4 replicates (8 chicks per replicate) in a randomized complete block design. Dietary treatments consisted of basal diet with no additives (control) or the basal diet supplemented with synbiotic (Biomin IMBO), antibiotic (virginiamycin), 0.4% ginger, 0.8% ginger, 0.4% cinnamon or 0.8% cinnamon. The results showed that all supplemented with feed additives decreased (P < 0.05) feed intake and body weight gain, but improved (P < 0.05) feed conversion ratio compared to the control group during the whole experimental period (1-42 d). The serum triglyceride level was decreased (P < 0.05) by treatments 0.8% ginger, synbiotic and 0.8% cinnamon, which was significantly different from that of other groups. The lowest serum cholesterol levels (P < 0.05) was also observed in the birds fed diets supplemented with 0.8% ginger and 0.8% cinnamon. Moreover, treatment 0.8% cinnamon statistically (P < 0.05) decreased the serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level compared with the control diet. All diets increased (P < 0.05) the values of RBC and hemoglobin, but decreased (P < 0.05) abdominal fat pad compared to the control diet. The lymphocyte count in the birds fed diets supplemented with 0.4 and 0.8% ginger was also significantly (P < 0.05) higher than the control group. However, dietary treatments had no significant effects (P > 0.05) on the relative weights of spleen, bursa of Fabricius and thymus, and blood concentrations of glucose, total protein and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level. In conclusion, this study showed that either 0.8 % ginger or 0.8% cinnamon could be suggested as effective alternative for virginiamycin with respect to the feed efficiency and health parameters.