Response of Broiler Chicken to Diets Containing Different Mixture Powder Levels of Red Pepper and Black Pepper as Natural Feed Additive

Abstract

The effect of feeding different mixture powder levels of red and black pepper as natural feed additives on productive performance, carcass characteristics and economical efficiency were studied. A total of one hundred and sixty one-day old, unsexed (Ross-308) broiler chicks were randomly divided into four experimental groups. Each group was further subdivided into five replicates at the rate of eight chicks per pen in complete randomized design. The birds were fed on two basal diets (starter and finisher diet). The red pepper (Capsicum annum.L) and black pepper (Piper nigrum.L) were added in different mixture levels to the basal diets resulting in four experimental groups. The first group (A) fed on basal diets without feed additives (control diet). The other groups (B), (C) and (D) were fed on basal diets supplemented with different mixture powder levels of 0.4% (0.2% red pepper + 0.2% black pepper), 0.6% (0.3% red pepper + 0.3% black pepper) and 1% (0.5% red pepper + 0.5% black pepper) respectively. The experimental diets were fed for 6-weeks duration. Health of the stock and performance parameters were recorded. At the end of the experiment, the birds were slaughtered, dressed then used for different parameters and economical evaluation were calculated. The results showed that, the diet with 1% mixture powder of red and black peppers had significantly (P<0.05) heaviest body weight gain, higher feed intake, best feed conversion ratio, highest dressing percentage, highest percentage of commercial cuts (breast, drumstick and thigh) with the highest percentages of liver and gizzard. The birds fed with the control diet produced significantly (P<0.05) highest abdnominal fat percentage. The mortality rate was not significantly affected by the inclusion of mixture of red and black peppers powder in broiler diet. The highest profitability ratio (1.81) was obtained by the diet supplemented with 1% mixture powder level. It was concluded that using a mixture as feed additives at level 1% enhance the overall performance and carcass quality of broiler chicken.