Effect of dietary supplementation of Ashwagandha, selenium and vitamin E on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, carcass characteristics and economics in broiler chicken

An experiment was conducted on 300, day-old commercial broiler chicks (Cobb 430 Yellow) for a period of 42 days. The chicks were distributed randomly into five experimental groups with four replicates having 15 birds each. The group (T₀) was fed as per BIS (2007), whereas treatment groups T₁, T₂, T₃ and T₄ diets were supplemented with ashwagandha 0.5% of the diet, ashwagandha 0.5% plus vitamin E @ 30 mg/kg diet, ashwagandha (powder) 0.5% plus selenium 0.25 mg/kg diet and ashwagandha 0.5% plus 30 mg/kg vitamin E plus 0.25 mg/kg selenium, respectively. The average body weight (g) was significantly higher in T₃ and T₄ groups as compared to T₀ but was similar to T₁ and T₂. The feed intake (g/d) and FCR were significantly lower in T₃ and T₄ groups compared to T₀. The digestibility of dry matter, organic matter and crude protein was significantly higher in all the supplemented groups than T₀. The carcass characteristics were similar in all the groups. The present study observed significantly higher (P<0.05) body weight gain, nutrient digestibility and higher net profit per bird and also per kg of body weight with significantly lower (P<0.05) cumulative feed intake and FCR at higher levels of supplementation as compared to control group.