GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS OF FINISHER BROILER CHICKENS FED DIETARY SUPPLEMENTATION OF ACETYLSALICYLIC ACID DURING DRY SEASON.

Heat stress has been recognized as a great challenge in the poultry industry, and its effects are mostly felt in tropical countries, hence, the need to alleviate heat stress problems in poultry production. This experiment was therefore carried out to assess the effect of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) on growth performance and carcass characteristics of finisher broiler chickens during the transition from dry to rainy season (January - March). One hundred and ninety-two (192) three-week-old broiler chicks (ANAK) were used for this experiment. The birds were randomly divided into four dietary treatments, each treatment comprising 48 birds, which was replicated 4 times containing 12 birds per replicate. Diet 1 (T1) which is the control had no inclusion of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), Diet 2 (T2) contained 0.025% inclusion of ASA, Diet 3 (T3) contained 0.050% inclusion of ASA, and Diet 4 (T4) had 0.075% of ASA. The result of the growth performance of finisher broilers showed that finisher broilers fed 0.075% ASA had the significantly highest (p>0.05) total feed intake value of 4766.60 ± 43.86 g. The percentage of mortality decreased as the level of ASA supplementation increased. Significant treatment effect was also observed in all the carcass parameters investigated; broilers fed 0.025% were observed to have the highest breast weight value (561.75 ± 68.89 g). while broilers fed 0.075% had the highest (p<0.05) thigh value of 262.00 ± 7.03g, the highest (p<0.05) drumstick value was recorded in broilers fed 0.050% ASA with value of 238.90 ± 6.87 g. It was concluded that ASA supplementation improved the growth performance and reduced mortality in broiler chickens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]