Comparative Efficacy of Turmeric (Curcuma longa), Amla (Emblica officinalis) and Mangrail (Nigella sativa) as Growth Promoters in Broilers

A study was conducted to compare the efficacy of turmeric (Curcuma longa), amla (Emblica officinalis) and mangrail (Nigella sativa) as herbal growth promoters in broiler chickens. Day old commercial broiler chicks (n=280) were distributed equally into seven groups of 40 chicks each, which were further replicate to five groups of eight each. The chicks were placed on one of seven dietary treatments i.e. basal diet without any supplement (CON) or with turmeric at 0.5 (CL-0.5) and 1.0% (CL-1.0), amla at 0.5 (EO-0.5) and 1.0% (EO-1.0) and mangrail with 0.5 (NS-0.5) and 1% (NS-1.0) levels. The effect of these supplements on feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion ratio, carcass characteristics and on economic return was assessed in a six week study. The herbal group broilers were significantly (P<0.05) higher weight gain and lower FCR than control group broilers. The highest weight gain (2097g) and lowest FCR (1.89) was found in NS-1.0 group. H:L ratio was lowest in EO-1.0 group, however, liver enzymes AST and ALT concentration did not show any significant (P>0.05) differences due to herbal supplementation. No significant (P>0.05) effect of turmeric, amla or mangrail were observed on carcass characteristics of broilers. The net profit per bird and net profit per kg live weight of the birds was significantly (P<0.05) higher in all the treatment groups in comparison to the control group and it was highest in NS-1.0 group. The outcome of this study indicated that 1% mangrail powder had no deleterious effect on bird's health and it improves the weight gain, feed efficiency and economic return in broiler production.