Nutritional manipulation of broiler chicken for improving the performance and quality of meat

The present study was done as two separate trials with one hundred fifty (150) numbers of day-old broiler chicks of mixed sexes each. Both the trials had 25 birds in each group and reared for 42 days. The locally available herbs (Centella asiatica, Allium odorum, Hibiscus sabdariffa, Zanthoxylum armatum and Morus alba) were included at 1% level. The birds were divided into six (6) treatments as T1 (Control), T2 (with 1% Centella asiatica), T3 (with 1% Allium odorum), T4 (with 1% Hibiscus sabdariffa), T5 (with 1% Zanthoxylum armatum) and T6 (with 1% Morus alba). The results revealed that the performance parameters were significantly (P<0.001) different with the highest overall body weight gain in T6, overall feed intake in T1, and overall feed conversion ratio (FCR) in T3 and T6. Highly significant (P<0.001) differences were also observed in the carcass characteristics. Dietary addition of 1% Hibiscus sabdariffa in the T4 group was observed to significantly (P<0.001) lowered serum cholesterol, serum triglyceride, serum LDL and VLDL cholesterol, breast and thigh meat cholesterol level while serum HDL cholesterol was increased. In the second trial, feed for broiler birds was formulated after the inclusion of dried processed spices such as Trigonella foenum-graecum, Cinnamomum cassia, Zingiber officinale, Curcuma longa and Coriandrum sativum at 1% level. The birds were divided into six (6) treatments as T1 (Control), T2 (with 1% Trigonella foenum-graecum), T3 (with 1% Cinnamomum cassia), T4 (with 1% Zingiber officinale), T5 (with 1% Curcuma longa) and T6 (with 1% Coriandrum sativum). The highest overall (0-6 week) average body weight gain was in T6, feed intake in T5 and better FCR in the T3 group. The dietary addition of 1% spices significantly (P<0.001) improved the carcass characteristics and had a significant effect on serum lipid profile and meat cholesterol content.