Effect of a commercial blend of essential oils and organic acids on the performance of broiler chickens

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of Bio strong Forte (BF) on the performance of broiler chickens. The BF is a commercial blend of essential oils and organic acids. Five hundred and forty (540) day old Ross broiler chicks were used in the feeding trial. The birds were randomly distributed into five treatments, each replicated thrice with 36 chicks per replicate. T1 is the control; T2, T3 and T4 had 50, 75 and 100g BF per 100kg feed, respectively while T5 had Oxytetracycline (AGP) 60g/100kg of feed. The five diets were supplied ad libitum to birds for 42 days. Parameters collected were growth performance indices, haematological parameters, liver function indices, and carcass quality. All data were subjected to analysis of variance and significant (P<0.05) differences among treatment means were compared using the Tukey test of significance. Significant (P<0.05) difference was observed for growth performance indices as final weight and weight gain were best for the 50g BF per 100Kg diet which compared favourably with the antibiotic group. The cost of producing meat was similarly best for 50g BF per 100 Kg diet, while the highest cost of production was observed for the antibiotic group. No significant (p>0.05) differences were observed for all haematological parameters, although the packed cell volume and haemoglobin count fell within the normal range for healthy chickens. Significant (p<0.05) difference was observed for aspartate amino transferase (AST). Higher AST values were however observed for birds on the control, while 50gBFand 100gBFwere similar but higher than the values observed for 75g BF and AGP groups. There was however no significant (p>0.05) difference for alanine amino transferase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP). The carcass analysis showed significant (p<0.05) difference in dressed weight across treatments, with the AGP group having the highest value while the control, alongside 50g BF and 75g BF were at par statistically. From the results of this study t may be concluded that BF significantly improved the growth performance of broiler chickens, had no impairment to the liver with the treatment with 50g per 100kg diet having the best cost of production when compared with the antibiotic group and the control group. This shows that BF at 50g per100kg diet can effectively replace antibiotics in broiler diets.