GROWTH PERFORMANCE, IMMUNE RESPONSE AND ANTIOXIDANT STATUS OF BROILER CHICKENS ON DIETARY SUPPLEMENTATION OF Moringa oleifera, Ocimum gratissimum LEAF MEALS AND THEIR COMPOSITE MIX

Abstract

The study assessed the effect of Moringa oleifera, Ocimum gratissimum and their composite leaf meal supplementation on the growth performance, immune response and antioxidant enzyme status of broiler chickens in a feeding trial that lasted for 42 days. Two hundred Arbor-Acre one-day-old broiler chicks were randomly distributed to 5 diets of 40 chicks to a treatment of 4 replications of 10 chicks to a replicate. Five experimental diets were formulated. Diet 1, which was designated as positive control has no antibiotic and no leaf meal supplementation, diet 2 designated as negative control has no leaf meal but has antibiotic 200mg/kg (Tylosin), diet 3 has 1000mg/kg Moringa oleifera leaf meal (MOLM), diet 4 has 1000mg/kg Ocimum gratissimum leaf meal (OGLM) while diet 5 has 500mg/kg MOLM + 500mg/kg OGLM (composite leaf meal mix). Birds have unlimited access to fresh feeds and cool clean water throughout the experimental period. Results show that weight gain, feed conversion ratio, PCV, WBC, catalase, superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase were significantly (P<0.05) higher while creatinine and cholesterol levels were significantly (P<0.05) lower in birds fed dietary supplementation of MOLM, OGLM and their composite mix compared to birds on diet 1 while feed consumption shows no particular trend of significance.