Effects of Graded Levels of Joy Perfume Tree (Pentadiplandra brazzeana) Powder in Drinking Water on Growth Performance, Gut Microbiota and Haemato-Biochemical Parameters of Broiler Chickens

The restriction of antibiotic growth promoters in livestock nutrition has led to a growing interest in plant feed additives. This study was designed to assess the production performance of broiler chickens fed on graded levels of Pentadiplandra brazzeana powder in drinking water. A total of 448 day-old Cobb 500 broiler chicks were randomly assigned to seven treatment groups with 4 replicates of 16 birds each (08 males and 08 females). Pentadiplandra brazzeana root was grounded and incorporated at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 g/L of drinking water. Control rations consisted of diet without any supplement (T0) and antibiotic (1 g/kg) medicated diet (T0+). Throughout the experimental period (49 days) feed intake was not significantly (p > 0.05) affected by graded levels of Pentadiplandra brazzeana except for 5 g/L of water that significantly (p Pentadiplandra brazzeana/L recorded a higher (p 0.05) affected irrespective of the level of incorporation of the test spice in drinking water. Serum content in urea was significantly lower (p Pentadiplandra brazzeana/L compared to all other treatments. ASAT, ALAT, creatinine, total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL and LDL-cholesterol were not significantly affected by the inclusion of Pentadiplandra brazzeana powder in drinking water. Feeding chickens with up to 4 g of Pentadiplandra brazzeana significantly increased (p Pentadiplandra brazzeana powder through drinking water can be used as alternative to antibiotics to improve growth performance of broiler chickens.