Effect of Feeding Garlic (Allium sativum) Powder on the Performance of Broiler Chicken

Abstract

This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of feeding different level of garlic (Allium sativum) powder on the performance of broiler during summer (April-May), 2017. Four experimental diets designated as T0, T1, T2 and T3 having 0%, 0.5%, 1% and 2% dried garlic (Allium sativum) powder was fed to 96 broiler chicks (Cobb 500). The chicks were, randomly and equally distributed to 4 treatments having 3 replicates of 8 birds each. The experiment was lasted for 28 days. Average weight gain, feed consumption, feed efficiency, dressing yield and survivability were used as the criteria of response to feeding the garlic powder. Organs weight including heart, liver and gizzard were also recorded. Results showed that addition of garlic powder increased the body weight (P<0.05) in broiler irrespective of doses and the mean body weight per broiler were 1297.67, 1415.58, 1462.58 and 1432.13g in the T0, T1, T2, and T3, respectively (P<0.05). The average feed consumption per broiler were 2353.81, 2243.07, 2234.61 and 2222.60g (P<0.05) in the T0, T1, T2 and T3, respectively. The feed conversion ratio (feed/gain) were 1.47, 1.19, 1.16 and 1.18 (P<0.05) in the T0, T1, T2 and T3, respectively. The mean dressing yield were 57.30%, 58.00%, 61.24% and 59.24% (P<0.05) for the groups of T0, T1, T2 and T3, respectively. The average weights of abdominal fat were 2.72, 1.72, 1.58 and 1.62g (P<0.05) and where the heart weights were 6.46, 7.30, 8.1 and 7.5g (P<0.05), in T0, T1, T2 and T3, respectively. The average weights of liver were 38.1, 38.52, 41.21 and 39.98g (P>0.05) in the T0, T1, T2 and T3, respectively. The mean gizzard weights were 37.47, 37.56, 38.77 and 37.8g (P>0.05) for the groups of T0, T1, T2, and T3, respectively. It was concluded that garlic (Allium sativum) powder at a level of 1% can be used as feed additive to enhance overall performance of broiler.