Influence of herbal oil extracts on live broiler performance, carcass traits and relative weights of internal organs

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The goal of this trail was to study the influence of the oil extracts of ginger and rosemary through directly via intra-crop gavage on live performance and carcass traits of broiler. One day old 192 unsexed ROSS 308 chicks were separated into six treatments (three replicates per treatment), (except 1st and 2nd treatment with two replicates) and 12 chicks per replicate, as follows; first oness, was the control group without any treatment, the second was a placebo group, the chicks were given normal saline (negative control), the chicks in 3rd and 4th treatments were given rosemary oil extracts, finally 5th and 6th treatments chicks gave ginger oil extract. The dosages of herbal oil extract were given intra-crop gavage twice per week in two interval periods (two days per interval) at the rate of 0.1 mL and 0.2 mL from the 1st to 4th week of age and from the 5th week till the end of the experiment at 6th week. Dosage increased from 0.1 mL to 0.5 mL and from 0.2 to 1 mL per chick with three times in a week (with one day off), in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th treatments respectively, a medicinal syringe (5 mL capacity) was used and an extra 10 cm medicinal plastic pipe was added to the end of the medicinal syringe to insure the reach of oil extract directly to the chick's crop. Results of intra-gavage oil extract of ginger root and rosemary leafs revealed that there were non-significant differences between treatment on broiler accumulative live performance, but the significant differences appeared in the herbal extract intra-crop gavage treated group in dressing percentage (with and without giblet), thigh, drum stick yields and in abdominal fat pad, internal organ relative weight at 28 and 49 days of broiler age.