Effects of adding ginseng roots to diet on productive traits of Ross-308 broilers exposed to heat stress

The current study was carried out on a poultry farm that belongs the Animal Production Department, College of Agriculture, University of Kufa, Iraq for a period from 10 September through 14 October 2020 in 5 weeks. In this study, we assessed the effects of adding antioxidant (ascorbic acid) and red ginseng root powder (Panax) in reducing the effects of heat stress. The experiment included 240 unsexed Ross-308 cross chicks, one-day old, with an average initial weight of 40 g. The chicks were divided into 4 treatments encompassing 60 chicks per treatment with three replications (each 20 chick). The treatments including control diet fed on standard ration (T1), diets with the added red ginseng root powder (Panax( at 2 g kg-1 feed (T2), 4 g kg-1 (T3) and 6 g kg-1 (T4). The chicks were fed on starter diet for the first 21 days and a final diet from 22nd to 35th days. The results showed that T4 were significantly (p < 0.05) superior to the control treatment by recording the highest average live body weight, total weight gain, and total feed consumption rate as well as the lowest value of feed conversion factor.