Honeylet J. Nicolas*
ABSTRACT
The study was conducted to determine the effects of supplementing aged garlic extract (AGE) and humates with probiotics (HWP), at varying growth stages, on the blood profile of Cobb 500 broilers. The experiment followed the 4×4 factorial in Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The feed supplement was used as factor A (negative control, with AGE, with HWP, and positive control or antibacterial), and the different growth stage as the factor B (brooder stage/0-12 d, starter stage/13-21 d, grower stage/22-28 d, and brooder to grower stages/0-28 d). A total of 320 male day-old Cobb broiler chicks (DOC) were randomly distributed to 16 groups with four replicates each. The supplements were given at 1g/kg inclusion rate. Supplementation has no effect on the erythrocytic indices, specifically the RBC count, hemoglobin, packed cell volume (PCV), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC). The results showed that with the supplementation of AGE and HWP, the erythrocytic indices were maintained within the physiological limits. Thus, AGE and HWP supplementation has no adverse effect on the blood profile of Cobb 500 broiler.
Keywords: aged garlic extract (AGE), broiler, humates, probiotics
Annals of Tropical Research 40(1):46-52(2018)
https://doi.org/10.32945/atr4014.2018
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