GROWTH RESPONSE, CARCASS AND HAEMATOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF BROILER BIRDS FED SELECTED MEDICINAL PLANTS LEAF MEAL.

One hundred and twenty (120) apparently healthy day-old Ross 308 broiler chicks, were used in a study to
evaluate the effects of substitution of antibiotics with selected medicinal plant leaf meal on their production
indices. The study which was carried out from September to November 2022 consists of eight treatment
groups designated as T1
to T8
. Eight experimental diets were formulated such that T1
served as the control, T2
(5% Moringa oleifera leaf meal), T (5% Neem leaf meal) T (5% Spondias mombin leaf meal), T (2.5% 3 4 5
combination each of moringa and Neem leaf meal), T (2.5% combination each of Moringa and Spondias 6
mombin leaf meal) T (2.5% combination each of Neem and Spondias mombin leaf meal), and T (1.66% each 7 8
of Moringa, Neem and Spondias mombin leaf meal) respectively. Parameters evaluated for the broiler
chicken include weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, mortality, haematology and carcass
characteristics of the broilers. The study lasted for 63 days. Data collected were subjected to a one-way
analysis of variance using SPSS,22. Mean separation was done using the least significant difference. The
weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio as well percentage mortality for the broiler chicken all differed
(P<0.05). The broiler chicken dressed weight, dressing percentage, breast cut, thigh, drumstick, shank and
wing were significant (P<0.05) higher for T . The organs of the broiler chicken such as gizzard, crops, 4
proventriculus, small intestine, large intestine and caecum were not significantly (P>0.05) affected by the
feeding trial. The WBC, Hb and the platelet of the broiler chicken were significantly (P<0.05) affected by the
study materials. The work therefore recommends that medicinal plant leaf meal can be used in place of
antibiotics growth promoters as they positively affected the broiler growth performance.