Performance and hematological parameters of broilers fed neem, turmeric, vitamin e and their combinations

An experiment was conducted to study the efficiency of inclusion of neem, turmeric, vitamin E and its combinations on performance and hematological parameters for a period of six weeks with 288 day old Raja II broiler chicks. Basal diet was supplemented with Azadirachta indica (Neem 8g/kg feed), Curcuma longa (Turmeric 2g/kg feed) and Vitamin E 0.2g/kg feed) individually and in combination to form eight test diets. Each test diet was fed ad libitum for 42 days. The result of the present stumdy identified no significant difference in body weight of chicks fed with supplemented diets. Whereas, addition of either neem alone or in combination with turmeric and vitamin E induced significant growth depression in birds compared to control birds. Supplementation of neem, turmeric, Vitamin E and their combinations in broiler diets did not exhibit any significant effect on feed intake and feed conversion ratio during all the weeks of age. The percentage livability of birds under different treatments was statistically non-significant. Hematological parameters in broilers revealed that the hemoglobin concentration in neem fed group was significantly (P 0.05) higher (10.5 g/dL) when compared to turmeric fed group (9.85 g/dL), otherwise diet containing turmeric alone recorded lowest value of hemoglobin. Feeding of neem alone and its combination with turmeric and vitamin E increases significantly PCV values as compared to control. The supplementation of turmeric or vitamin E alone to basal diet did not significantly change PCV values.