Effect of herbal feed additives on growth performance and carcass quality of broiler chickens

Abstract:

The routine use of antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) in broiler production has come under regulatory pressure worldwide, and the European Union banned them in 2006. Indonesia is following a similar trajectory, with the Ministry of Agriculture recommending phase-out of AGPs by 2025. This research evaluated four dietary treatments built around Indonesian traditional herbs as possible replacements for AGPs in broiler diets. A total of 240 day-old Cobb-400 chicks were randomly allotted to T1 (basal diet, control), T2 (basal + 1% holy basil leaf powder), T3 (basal + 0.5% garlic powder), and T4 (basal + 0.75% holy basil + 0.25% garlic + 0.25% turmeric powder) in a completely randomised design with three replicates of 20 birds each. The six-week research was conducted at the poultry research unit of the IPB University, Bogor, between October and November 2022. T4 birds reached 2284 g mean live weight at day 42 against 1938 g for the control (17.9% rise), with a feed conversion ratio of 1.58 compared to 1.87 in the control. Dressed yield rose from 71.3 to 74.8 per cent, breast meat from 22.4 to 24.7 per cent, and abdominal fat fell from 2.8 to 1.9 per cent. Haematology values improved, with haemoglobin at 9.8 g dL⁻¹ for T4 against 8.4 g dL⁻¹ for T1. Mortality was 3.3 per cent in T4 versus 8.3 per cent in the control. The mixed-herb formulation is therefore a practical AGP replacement for small and medium broiler farms in Java.