Effect of Dietary Soapnut (Sapindus mukorossi) Shell Powder on Selected Stress Indices, Lipid Profile and Litter Quality in Broiler Breeders

The present experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of soapnut shell powder (SSP) supplementation on zootechnical parameters, stress indices, indices lipid profile, haemato-biochemical and excreta moisture level in broiler breeders. A total of ninety six female and twenty four male broiler breeders of thirty eight weeks age were reared separately. The birds were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments consisting of three replicates of 8 female and 2 male birds in each. All the birds were fed on a basal diet for 42d. The dietary groups T1 (control), T2, T3 and T4 were supplemented with SSP to have a supplementary saponin at 0, 50, 75 and 150 ppm in diet, respectively. Results revealed that the fortnight feed intake and BW of dietary groups did not differ significantly (P>0.05). Serum corticosterone and heterophil/lymphocyte ratio showed significant (P<0.05) reduction in both the sex of the birds. Serum levels of total cholesterol, triglyceride and LDL-cholesterol were significantly decreased (P<0.001), whereas, HDL-cholesterol level increased (P<0.001) in SSP supplemented groups, in both the sex of breeder birds. Dietary SSP supplementation did not alter other assessed parameters related to hematological, serum biochemical, enzyme and mineral parameters. Excreta moisture content was significantly (P<0.05) lower in T4 group in comparison to T1, T2 and T3 groups in both the sex of birds. Thus, it is concluded that SSP, as feed additive, can be supplemented at the rate of 150 ppm in broiler breeders for improvement in the performance and stress alleviation.