EFFECT OF PROCESSED NEEM LEAF AS FEED ADDITIVE ON HAEMATOLOGICAL AND SERUM BIOCHEMISTRY INDICES OF BROILER CHICKEN

Abstract

A total number of 45 day-old broiler chicks were randomly assigned to three dietary treatments in a completely randomized design (CRD) each with three replicates of 5 chicks per replicate. The experimental diets were control diet (T1) containing 0 g/Kg, while T2 and T3 were fed diets containing 0.5g and 1.0g/kg neem leaf respectively. The experiment lasted for 56 days. In the hematological analysis of this study, there was no statistical significant (P>0.05) difference however, birds given 1gram of neem leaf (T3) recorded the highest packed cell volume (PCV), Total Red Blood Cell count (TRBC) and lowest Total White Blood Cell count (TWBC). This indicated that the birds are healthier, and they did not harbor infections. The result for Serum biochemistry indices in this study showed no statistical significant (P≤0.05) difference for all parameters, however the birds in T3 showed higher values for Total Protein (48.333), Liver function (AST, ALT, ALP) and Kidney function (BUN, Creatinine, ALB) tests than birds in T2, T1 (55.000). They also recorded lower cholesterol levels than T2 (61.000). The birds in the control group recorded highest AST, ALP and BUN. Despite non-significant differences, the result of this study suggests that 1g of neem leaf did improve the hematological and serum biochemistry of the broiler chicken. It is therefore recommended that: Farmers are encouraged to incorporate 1g of pulverized neem leaf as an additive in the diet of their broiler chicken , Further research work should be carried out with alternative inclusion rates of neem leaf to determine the threshold/optimum level of inclusion that would not be detrimental to the birds.