COMPARATIVE EFFECTS OF DIETARY Ocimum gratissimum AND ANTIBIOTIC GROWTH PROMOTER ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF BROILER FINISHERS

Abstract

The comparative effect of dietary Ocimum gratissimum (OG) and Feed - grade antibiotic growth promoter (Oxytetracycline HCI) on growth performance of finisher broiler birds was investigated using ninety six (96) broiler birds. The birds were randomly assigned to four treatments with each treatment comprising 24 birds replicated three times with 8 birds per replicate in a completely randomized design experiment. Four diets (T, control diet without Oxytetracycline HCI and Ocimum gratissimum ; T2 had Oxytetracycline HCI; T, had 1% Ocimum gratissimum; T4 had 1.5% Ocimum gratissimum) were formulated and offered ad libitum.. Data was collected on feed intake, body weight gain and feed conversion ratio (FCR). Results indicate that there was significant difference (P<0.05) in the feed intake as T2 had the highest feed intake. However, there were no significant difference (P>0.05) in the body weight gain, feed conversion ratio. It can be concluded that 0. gratissimum can replace antibiotic growth promoter (Oxytetracycline HCl) since their effect on performance were similar.