Effect of varied levels of dietary Chlorella vulgaris extract on blood biochemical profile and immune organ status in broilers

Abstract

A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Chlorella vulgaris hydro-alcoholic extract on blood biochemistry and immune organs characteristics in broiler chicken. A total of 128 Vencobb 400, day-old broiler chicks were randomly assigned into four treatment groups having four replicates with eight birds per replicate. A basal diet was formulated in accordance with BIS recommendation and hydro-alcoholic extract of Chlorella vulgaris was added at an inclusion level of 0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.4 per cent respectively to the basal diet to form 4 different treatment diets. After 42 days of experimental feeding trial, one bird from each replicate was sacrificed to study blood biochemical parameters and immune organs status. The results of the present study indicated that the birds fed with 0.4 percent C. vulgaris extract in their diet showed significantly higher WBC (P<0.001), RBC (P<0.01) and hemoglobin (P<0.05) count compared to other treatments while total protein, albumin, globulin and A:G ratios were found similar among the treatment groups. In the case of immune organ status, the bursal yield was significantly (P<0.05) higher for birds fed with 0.1 and 0.2 percent supplementation than other groups while the weight of thymus and spleen were similar between the treatment groups.