Effect of diets fortified with garlic organic extract and streptomycin sulphate on growth performance and carcass characteristics of broilers

Abstract

An experiment was carried out to study the comparative effects of garlic organic extract and streptomycin sulphate on growth performance and carcass characteristics of broilers. Forty-eight Hubbard line day-old chicks with equal numbers of males and females were randomly allocated to eight (8) treatment combinations to conduct a 4×2 factorial experiment in a completely randomised design. The diets were supplemented with: no supplement (control), garlic organic extract at 40 ppm/kg (GOE 40 ppm), garlic organic extract at 60 ppm/kg (GOE 60 ppm) and streptomycin sulphate at 30 ppm/kg (SS 30 ppm) administered by oral gavages from day 13 to day 47 of experiment. The results showed that the growth performance attributes of birds on supplementation with streptomycin sulphate and garlic organic extract did not differ, but were significantly better (P<0.05) than the values obtained from birds on control. The same observation was made for the carcass characteristics. Male broilers yielded heavier (P<0.001) carcasses (1748.50 vs 1533.50 g), higher (P<0.05) relative heart weight (0.43 vs 0.40% body weight), and deposited less (P<0.001) abdominal fat compared with the females (0.27 vs 0.76% body weight). Treatment and sex interaction significantly affected all the parameters studied except for the heart, pancreas and head. In summary, diets supplemented with garlic organic extract at 40 ppm could be used as an alternative to antibiotic additives for broiler production. Key words: Broilers, carcass characteristics, garlic organic extract, growth performance, streptomycin sulphate, supplementation.