EVALUATION OF TWO HERBAL SPICES AS FEED ADDITIVES FOR FINISHER BROILERS

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of two herbal spices as feed additives for finisher broilers. 120 5-week old birds were randomly assigned to four treatments in a completely randomized design. Each group was further subdivided into three replicates of 10 birds per replicate. Four experimental diets were formulated such that diet I (T1) which served as the control contained neither ginger nor garlic. Diets 2 (T2) and 3 (T3) contained 0.25% garlic and ginger respectively. Diet 4 (T4) contained a combination of 0.25% of garlic and ginger. Response parameters evaluated include weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, blood parameters and carcass characteristics. The experiment lasted for 35 days. Results showed that birds fed supplemented diets had significantly (P<0.05) higher body weight gain and superior feed conversion ratio than birds fed the control diet. There was no significant (P>0.05) difference in the feed consumption of the birds among the treatments. The hematological indices, serum biochemistry and carcass characteristics of the birds among the treatment were not significantly (P>0.05) influenced by the dietary treatments. The results of this study suggest that ginger and garlic can be included in broiler finisher diets without adversely affecting the performance of the birds.