ADMINISTRATION OF AQUEOUS GINGER EXTRACT AND BACTERIA GROWTH IN THREE BREEDS OF BROILERS CHICKEN

Abstract

To investigate the effect of administering concentrated ginger extract on bacteria (Salmonella spp and Escherichia coli) growth, 270 day old chicks (Arbor acre Plus, Cobb 500 and Ross 308) were used in a completely randomized design experiment. The birds were fed a single phase diet (23.34% CP; 2948.05 ME kcal/kg). The birds were randomly divided into three groups of 90 birds each, designated as groups T1, T2 and T3. The chicks in each group were further divided into 3 treatments with 3 replicates of 10 chicks. The experiment ran for 8 weeks. The birds were given a levelled table spoonful of Oxytetracycline® in 2 litres of water as recommended by the manufacturer (control), 4% and 6% aqueous ginger extract (treatment 2 and 3) in drinking water, respectively. Samples were collected from the crop of the birds at the end of the experiment and used for bacterial count analysis. Results showed no significant (p>0.05) differences in the growth of Salmonella spp and Esherichia coli in the birds. However, a marked increase in Esherichia coli count was observed in Arbor acre and Ross 308 birds administered the ginger extract. Contrariwise, higher levels of the bacteria were observed in Cobb 500 birds in the control and those on 4% aqueous ginger extract. It was concluded that, the effect of aqueous ginger extract is breed and concentration dependent.