Growth Performance and Intestinal Bacterial Count of Broiler Chickens Fed Diets Containing Graded Levels of Clove (Syzygium aromaticum) as Natural Growth Promoter
Abstract
The study evaluated clove (Syzygium aromaticum) as an alternative to synthetic antibiotic growth promoters. A total of 300, day-old Ross 308 broiler chicks were allotted to five dietary treatments replicated thrice with 20 chicks in a completely randomized design. Clove powder was included in the diet at 0, 100, 200 and 300 g while oxytetracycline was used as positive control. All data collected were subjected to analysis of variance and significant differences amongst treatment means were compared using Tukey procedure. Growth performance results showed that final weight (FW) and body weight gain (BWG) of birds fed 100 g (1008.33 and 968.07 g/bird) and 300 g (1008.19 and 967.86g/bird) of clove powder per 100 kg diet were significantly (P<0.05) higher than those fed diet with oxytetracycline (957.22 and 917.22 g/bird) with an improved feed conversion ratio (FCR) of 1.86 compared to those fed diet containing oxytetracycline (1.94). At the finisher phase, birds fed 200 and 300 g of clove inclusion had higher (P<0.05) FW, BWG, total feed intake (TFI) and FCR compared to the control groups. Bacillus and Lactobacillus spp populations in the ileum and caecum significantly (P<0.05) increased in birds fed 300 g compared to those fed the control diet while the population of pathogenic bacterial species (E.coli, Salmonella spp. and Clostridium spp.) significantly reduced with clove inclusion in diet. Inclusion of clove in the diets of broiler chickens at 100 g/100kg diet at the starter phase, improved BWG and FCR by 5.50 and 4.12%, respectively while at the finisher phase, clove inclusion in diets of broiler chickens at 200 and 300 g/100kg diet improved BWG by 15.65 and 21.22%; this resulted in improved FCR by 11.08 and 13.29%, respectively. Clove inclusion at 100 and 300 g/100kg diet during the starter and finisher phases, respectively are recommended for improved performance.
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References
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