Effect of Dietary Supplementation of Aloe Vera (Aloe barbadensis) on Growth Performance and Nutrient Utilization Efficiency in Broiler Chicken

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of three forms of aloe vera viz. powder, gel and juice on growth, feed intake, feed conversion ratio (FCR), energy efficiency (EE), protein efficiency (PE) and mortality in broiler chickens. A total of 240 day-old chicks were randomly allotted to four treatment groups with four replicates having fifteen broiler chicks in each replication. The chicks were fed with standard basal diets in three different growth phases i.e. pre-starter (0-7d), starter (8-21d) and finisher (22-42d). The control group T₁ was fed a basal diet (BIS, 2007). The birds in group T₂ were fed control diet as in T₁ + aloe vera powder @ 0.5%; in group T: control diet as in T+ aloe vera gel in feed @ 2% and in group T₃: control diet as in T₁ + aloe vera gel in feed @ 2% and in group T₄: control diet as in T₁ + fresh aloe vera juice in drinking water @ 2%. The body weight gains were not affected due to supplementation of different forms of aloe vera. However, supplementation of aloe vera improved (P<0.05) FCR and reduced the feed consumption of broilers as compared to the control group. The results revealed that protein and energy efficiency were better (P<0.05) during last week in group T₂ (0.5% aloe vera powder) and T₃ (2% aloe vera gel) groups as compared to control group. The dietary addition of aloe vera also reduced mortality rate. It could be inferred that supplementation of aloe vera in different physical forms in dietary regime of broilers improved protein and energy utilisation efficiency, FCR and reduced feed consumption and mortality without affecting growth performance.