Effect of Some Natural Feed Additives to Substitute Antibiotic as Growth Promoters on Growth Perfomance, Carcass Characteristics and Economic Efficiency of Broiler Chicks:1- Propolis

Abstract

study was conducted to determine the effect of three different levels of propolis (PR) and antibiotic (Erythromycin, ER) in diets on performance, carcass characteristics, carcass parts and economical evaluation in broiler chicks. A total of 150 one day oldCobb chicks were weighed and randomly allocated into a completely randomized design (five treatments, three replicate groups, ten chicks in each group). The experimental diets were as foll ows; basal diet without supplementation (control), 275 g ER/ton (T1), 500 g PR/ton (T2), 1000 g PR/ton (T3) and 2000g ER/ton (T4). The main results obtained can be summarized as follows: chicks fed basal diets supplemented with PR or ER significantly (P≤0.05) increased body weight and body weight gain. Average of feed intake was not affected by adding ER or PR during overall experiment period (1 -35 days) of age. The best feed conversion ratio, calorie and protein conversion ratio were recorded for the groups supplied with different levels of PR (T2-4). Carcass characteristics (carcass % and total edible parts%) and carcass parts % (Breast, thigh, drumstick and wing %) were non-significantly different for all treatment groups except abdominal fat %, liver %, gizzard %, heart % and giblets %. Supplementation of 275 g ER/ton (T1), 500 g PR (T2) and 1000 g PR/ton (T3) to basal diet the economical efficiency by 28.3, 16.8% and 6.8%as compared to the control diet. In conclusion, supplemental 275 g ER/ton or 500 g PR/ton to broiler chick diets had a positive effect on growth performance and economical efficiency.