Document Type : Research article
Authors
1
Department of Nutrition and Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt.
2
Department of Nutrition and clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt
3
Poultry Diseases Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt
4
Animal and Clinical Nutrition Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Assuit University, Assuit, Egypt.
Abstract
Infection is the major challenge facing the poultry industry resulting in high mortality. Therefore, phytobiotics attracted attention as natural alternatives to chemical growth promoters. Among the market phytobiotics, Moringa is common in Egypt; which has been previously shown to have anti-carcinogenic and antioxidant effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the addition of Moringa Oleifera leaf meal (MOLM) in broiler diets in different levels on growth performance, carcass characteristics and blood parameters of broiler chickens. The trial was conducted with 150 one day old broiler chicks (Cobb) weighed and randomly distributed into 5 equal groups, each of 30 chicks. Diets were formulated to contain approximately the same level of crude protein (CP) (23% for starter, 20% for the grower, 18% for finisher) and metabolizable energy 3100 Kcal/kg. In the first group, birds were fed on the diet without the addition of MOLM and this group was assigned as control. Chicks in second, third, fourth, fifth groups were fed on the basal diets containing 1%, 3%, 5% and 7% MOLM (M1, M3, M5, and M7, respectively). The trial was extended for 6 weeks. The results showed that feed intake was not affected by the addition of MOLM. On the other hand, broilers fed on a diet containing 3% MOLM achieved higher body weight (2564 ±9.53 g; P < 0.001) and better feed conversion (1.59; P < 0.001) compared with other experimental groups. The supplementation of MOLM increased significantly (P = 0.03) dressed weight and dressing percentage (P = 0.07). Moreover, dressed weight were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in M3 group compared to control (+25% and +29%, respectively) and M1 (+29% and +28%, respectively) groups. Total serum protein and albumin levels did not differ among the experimental groups while levels of serum glucose, triglycerides and cholesterol showed different reactions to supplementation of diets with MOLM. In conclusion, the Addition of MOLM to the diet of broiler chicks improved growth performance and carcass traits. The best growth performance was observed in broilers fed on diets containing 3% MOLM.
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