ORGANOSOMATIC INDICES OF BROILER CHICKENS ADMINISTERED SPOTTED PUMPKIN (Lagenaria breviflora) EXTRACT

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate Organosomatic indices of broiler chickens administered Spotted Pumpkin (Lagenaria breviflora) extract as an alternative antimicrobial. A total of One hundred and ninety two (192) day old broiler chicks were used for the experiment. The birds were randomly allotted to four (4) treatment groups having 48 birds per treatment which was further sub-divided into 12birds per replicate. The control groups were administered antibiotics while other groups were administered aqueous extract of Lagenaria breviflora at a dosage of 250g/liter, 500g/liter and 750g/liter respectively for 5days. At the end of the 8 weeks of experiment organosomatic indices of broiler chickens was carried out. All data generated were subjected to one way analysis of variance in a completely randomized design. Results obtained showed that aqueous extract of Lagenaria breviflora had no significant effect on all the parameters measured except for weight of gastrointestinal tract that was significantly affected by (P<0.05) the administration of Lagenaria breviflora extract. It was therefore concluded that aqueous extract of Lagenaria breviflora does not have any negative influence on the carcass characteristics of broiler chickens as it compared favorably with the control groups.