Volume 1 (Issue 1) 2021 Article 11

ABSTRACT:

This study was conducted for eight weeks to evaluate the effect of Neem leaf powder (NLP) as feed additive on carcass characteristics and caecal microbiology of broiler chickens. One hundred and twenty (120) day old broiler chicks were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments replicated thrice with (10) birds per replicate in a completely randomized design. Four diets were formulated to contain neem leaf powder at 0, 2, 4, and 6g/kg of the diet designated as T1 (control), T2, T3 and T4 respectively. Data was generated for carcass parameters and caecal microbiology. Compared with the control, the result for carcass characteristics showed that, NLP causes significant decrease (P<0.05) in the weights of Crop, Liver, Abdominal fat and intestinal length. Similarly, the weight of head, shank and gizzard showed significant (P<0.05) increase with increase in NLP supplementation. The result for caecal microbiology showed no significant (P>0.05) difference among the treatment group for total bacteria count and individual species except for E. coli which tended to decrease with increase in NLP. It is concluded that NLP supplementation had no adverse effect on carcass characteristics of broiler chickens. It however, caused a reduction in the weight of some internal organs.