EVALUATION OF SOME MEDICINAL PLANTS AS FEED ADDITIVES IN BROILER DIETS (original) (raw)

the present study was carried out in Poultry Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Alexandria University to evaluate the effect of adding some dried medicinal plants (M.P) as Nigella seeds (N.S), Chamomile flowers (CH.F), Thyme flowers (TH.F) and Harmala seeds (HS) at levels of , , , , respectively, individually or in combination versus using Zinc Bacitraction (Zn B) or virginimicyin (VIR) at levels ( mg/kg of diet) to broiler chicks diet on growth performance,digestibility values, blood serum constituents and Economical Efficiency. Two hundred and fourty Hubbard broiler chicks at three weeks of age were used in this study. Chicks were weighed and randomly distributed into sixteen treatments, with three replicates ( chicks of each), The Experiment was terminated when birds were weeks old. Weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion and some blood serum constituents were measured. At the end of the experiment digestibility values and carcass characteristics were measured. Results showed that: The Using of N.S., TH.F, HS and CH.F at , , , , dietary levels respectively, individually or in combination, improved the performance compared to control and antibiotics (Zn B or VIR) supplemented groups. The use of CH.F plus N.S. improved body weight, body weight gain, feed conversion, carcass traits and proved to be more economically than the other treatments or control.