PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS AND HAEMATOLOGICAL INDICES OF BROILER FINISHER BIRDS FED DIFFERENT INFUSION LEVELS OF NEEM LEAF EXTRACT.

Résumé

A research study was carried out in a 21 days experiment to determine the performance characteristics and haematological indices of broiler birds fed different infusion levels of neem leaf extract. The diets contain equal composition of feed ingredients at finisher phase for all treatment. Eighty "fidan" breed of unsexed day old chicks were randomly distributed into five treatment group of sixteen birds each into which neem leaf extract was incorporated at levels of 0, 25, 35, 45 and 55ml/litre of drinking water representing T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 respectively. Birds on the 55ml/litre of neem leaf infusion had significantly (p<0.05) superior values in terms of average final body weight, average daily weight gain, average daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio. The haematological indices studied showed that treatment effect was significantly (p<0.05) different among dietary groups, with treatment 5 having the highest value of white blood cell (WBC) and hemoglobin. While values for packed cell volume (PCV) and red blood cell (RBC) showed no significant (p>0.05) difference among treatments.