Effect of Different Alternatives to Antibiotics on the Performance and Haematological Parameters of Broiler Chickens

Abstract

A field trial was carried out to determine the effect of different alternatives to antibiotics on the performance and blood parameters of broiler chickens. One hundred and eighty one day-old broiler chicks were used for the experiment. The chicks were allotted to 5 dietary treatments of 3 replicates each with 12 birds per replicate. The treatments were treatment 1 (positive control) where birds were given oxytetracycline, treatment 2 birds were given 600 g of Moringa

oleifera leaf meal in 100 kg of feed, treatment 3 birds were given 400 g of biomin in 100 kg of feed, treatment 4 birds were given 1000 g of ginger in 100kg of feed and treatment 5 which was the negative control where no additive was added to the feed. Total feed intake, final weight, weight gain (g) and FCR did not differ (p>0.05) across the treatments. Concentrations of lymphocytes, eosinophils, heterophils and monocytes differed (p<0.05). In conclusion, moringa, ginger or biomin could replace oxytetracycline in broiler production.