GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS OF BROILER CHICKENS FED SCENT LEAF MEAL AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO ANTIBIOTIC GROWTH PROMOTER
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51791/njap.vi.8500Keywords:
Scent leaf meal, Antibiotic growth promoter, Carcass characteristics, Growth performance, AlternativeAbstract
The potential of Ocimum gratissimum (scent leaf) meal (SLM) as an alternative to an antibiotic growth promoter was evaluated. It was incorporated into the formulated broiler diet at 0%,1%,2% and 3% levels respectively with a fifth treatment that contained 0.25% Oxytetracycline as positive control. These were designated as T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 respectively. One hundred and twenty unsexed arbor acre broiler chicks were used for the experiment; they were allocated into the five treatments with three replicates each in a completely randomized design and fed for weeks. Results showed that SLM in T3 with 1% level of inclusion (750g/100kg of feed), had significant effects (P<0.05) on growth performance with weight gain at 48.5g/day higher than the 45.09g/day and 47.55g/day of the positive and negative controls respectively. Carcass weight of 1.87kg for T3 was also significantly higher those of the controls at1.61kg and 1.70kg. The use of this as an optima level was
recommended for enhanced growth performance in broiler chicken production.
