Lime (Citrus aurantifolia) As a Source of Organic Acids on Growth Performance and Carcass Traits of Broiler Chickens

Abstract

The experiment was conducted to determine the effect of lime (juice and whole fruit) on performance and carcass characteristic of broiler chickens. 150 day-old broilers of Anak 2000 strain, were used in a completely randomized design (CRD), with each group having 30 birds, replicated three times to give 10 birds per replicate. Five treatments were applied with treatment 1 as control; treatment 2, had 5ml of lime juice per litre of water every day; treatment 3, had 7.5g of whole lime fruit per litre of water every day; treatment 4, had 5ml of lime juice per litre of water in alternate days; treatment 5, had 7.5g of whole lime fruit per litre of water in alternate days. The treatments were applied for 4 weeks of the bird finishing phase. The result for growth performance revealed that there were significant differences in average final weight, weight gain and feed conversion ratio. Treatment 4 had better weight gain and feed conversion ratio (1.60kg/bird and 2.56 respectively), as against the control that had the least (0.96kg/bird and 4.19 respectively). Results from carcass characteristics and internal organs traits also showed varied significant differences in some parameters. Abdominal fat was least in treatment 5 with 18g as against the control with 41.00g. These results show that the inclusion of lime as juice and as whole fruit, improved the productive parameters assessed in comparison to the control and thus possess considerable potential as an alternative to antibiotics growth promoters.