NUTRIENT DIGESTIBILITY OF BROILER CHICKENS FED LARVACIDE AND YOHIMBE BARK POWDER SUPPLEMENTED DIETS
Keywords:
Yohimbe, Broiler chicken, Nutrient digestibility, Energy digestibility, LarvacideAbstract
Herbal feed additives help improve health and performance of livestock without the bane of chemical residues. A 56-day study was conducted to compare the influence of Yohimbe (Pausynistalia yohimbe) and Larvacide on the nutrient and energy digestibility of broiler chickens at the starter and finisher phases. Two hundred and twenty five 14-day old broiler chickens were randomly assigned to five treatment groups comprising of forty five chicks each. The groups were made in triplicates. The five treatment groups consist of Basal (control), Larvacide (5mg/Kg), three levels of Yohimbe bark powder
supplementation at 60, 120, and 180 mg/Kg of the diets. During the digestibility trial, two chickens with same live weights were selected from the replicates groups at 28 and 56 day old to test the starter and finisher diets respectively. Formulated feeds were supplied and data on feed intake and droppings were collected and data were subjected to One-way analysis of variance. The inclusion of Yohimbe powder at 180mg/Kg reduced (p<0.05) feed intake at the finisher phase but increased ash, carbohydrate, crude fibre and energy digestibility. It is concluded that inclusion of Yohimbe at
180mg/Kg improved crude protein, energy and ash digestibility at the finisher phase.