Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.5513/JCEA01/23.3.3611
Effect of herbal and immunomodulatory supplements on growth performance and meat quality in broilers
Petаr PETROV
; Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agronomy, Agricultural University, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Hristo LUKANOV
; Department of Non ruminants and other animals, Faculty of Agriculture, Trakia University, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria
Vasko GERZILOV
; Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agronomy, Agricultural University, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Petra IVANOVA
; Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agronomy, Agricultural University, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Neli KERANOVA
; Department of Mathematics and Informatics, Faculty of Economy, Agricultural University, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Ivan PENCHEV
; Department of Morphology, Physiology and Nutrition, Faculty of Agriculture, Trakia University, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria
Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate the effect of herbal and immunomodulatory die-tary supplements and their combinations on growth performance, slaughter traits and meat quality in male broiler chickens. A total of 210 one-day-old Ross 308 male chickens were randomly distributed after weighing in 7 groups (3 replicates in each, n=10 chickens). Broilers were reared on deep litter until 42 days of age and divided as follows: Group I – control (basal diet without supplements); Group II – supple-mented with 0.2% Immunoßeta; Group III – supplemented with 0.2% garlic powder; Group IV – supplemented with 0.2% herbal mix (0.05% ginger, 0.05% rosemary, 0.05% thyme and 0.05% yarrow); Group V – supplemented with 0.2% Immunoßeta + 0.2% garlic powder; Group VI – supplemented with 0.2% Immunoßeta + 0.2% herbal mix; Group VII – supplemented with 0.2% Immunoßeta + 0.2% garlic powder + 0.2% herbal mix. At the end of the experiment, chickens weighed from 2552±54 g (Group I) to 2689±55 g (Group IV) without statistically significant differences (Р>0.05). Feed conversion varied from 1.64 (Group IV) tо 1.74 (Group I). Meat pH, water holding ca-pacity, water absorption capacity, and tenderness were not influenced by the dietary supplement type. All supplements used did not show an adverse effect on health, and no mortality was found in the experimental groups. The obtained results show a clear trend towards a positive effect of the used feed additives and their combination mainly on the fattening characteristics of the broiler chickens, evident from the higher values of the two efficiency indices.
Keywords
broilers; herbal additive; garlic powder; immunomodulatory; slaughter traits
Hrčak ID:
283713
URI
Publication date:
9.9.2022.
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