EFFECTS OF GINGER POWDER ON HAEMATOLOGICAL INDICES OF THE BROILER BIRDS AND PROXIMATE COMPOSITION OF THE EXPERIMENTAL DIET

Abstract

Medicinal spices like ginger contain chemical substances that could be used to enhance the value of food of animal origin and these substances are responsible for some other Health benefits. This study investigated the effect of ginger on the Haematological Indices of broiler birds and proximate composition of the experimental diet using sixty (60) day old broilers in a 42 day feeding trials. Hybrid company commercial feed for broiler birds used for this experiment was purchased from the mega distribution unit and divided into four(4), such that the diets contained 0%, 0.5%, 1% and 1.5% of air dry and milled ginger. The diets were randomly assigned to four groups of fifteen (15) birds each replicated 3 times to give five (5) broilers birds in a complete randomized design. The experimental diet was subjected to proximate analysis using standard procedure of AOAC (1990).The result showed significant (p < 0.05) difference in PCV, HBG, MCHC, MCV, MON, RBC, RDWC, and WBC. However, no significant differences were observed in LYM, HCT and MCH. Result of the proximate analysis of experimental diet showed significant difference in the metabolizable energy content (ME), ether extract (EE) and crude fibre (CF) with no significant differences in crude protein (CP) content of the feed among the treatment groups (P > 0.05). The test ingredient significantly affected some of the blood parameters of the experimental birds even though the values were within the normal range and thus could be used as additive in broiler chickens without any detrimental effects.