EFFECTS OF DIETS CONTAINING SUPPLEMENTS OF Azadirachta indica AND

Zingiber officinale ON THE PERFORMANCE OF BROILER CHICKENS

1
LAWAL, F. R.,
1
JEGEDE, A. V.,
1
ODUGUWA, O. O.,
2
PIRGOZLIEV, V. and
2
ROSE, S. P

1
Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria.
2
Harper Adams University College,
Newport, Shropshire, TF10 8NB, United Kingdom
Corresponding Author: E mail: lawalrihanat@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
Neem leaf and ginger may be of great benefit as natural feed additives in poultry nutrition
due to their antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, anti-parasitic and anti-viral
properties. A total of 240 day old broilers of Marshal Strain were used in a Completely
Randomized Design with six treatments (40 birds each) and four replicates of 10 birds each.
The dietary treatments were as follows: T1 was the basal diet with neither herbs nor
antibiotics. T2 had basal diet with commercial antibiotics at 0.05g/kg, T3 had basal diet with
neem leaf (Azadirachta indica) at 5g/kg, T4 had basal diet with ginger (Zingiber officinale) at
5g/kg, T5 had basal diet with neem leaf and ginger at 5g/kg each while T6 had basal diet with
neem leaf at 10g/kg and ginger at 7.5g/kg as supplements. Feed intake, body weight, weight
gain and feed conversion ratio were determined during the 56 d study. Birds fed diet
containing mixture of neem leaf and ginger at 5g/kg each

consumed the least (P<0.05)
amount of feed and still had highest body weights and by implication the best feed
conversion ratio. The synergistic effect of neem leaf and ginger on the performance of
experimental birds is evident.
Introduction
Among all growth promoters, the most commonly used are antibiotics, although nowadays
their use is decreasing towards total extinction (BIOVET, 2005) and this has triggered the
demand and consumption for medicinal plants in many countries because of low
cost, easy availability, affordability for a common farmer, good antimicrobial natured,
reduced diseases associated risks, lowering blood cholesterol level and diversified
functions in improving performance, growth rate, feed conversion rate and weight
gain in birds (LEWIS et al., 2003). Medicinal plants are used in pharmaceuticals,
neutraceuticals, cosmetics, and food supplements and even as traditional source of
medicines because of their antitumer, antiarthritic and antithrombotic functions
(THOMSON and ALI, 2003).
Neem (Azadirachta indica) is an indigenous tropical plant that has been made popular in
Nigeria recent times. According to (ELANGOVAN et al., 2000), neem leaf yields mainly
quercetin (Flavonoid) and nimbosterol (betasibosterol) as well as a number of liminoids
(nimbin and its derivatives). (ESONU et al., 2006) reported that neem leaf meal has a
proximate composition of 92.40% dry matter; 7.58% moisture; 20.68% crude protein;
16.60% crude fibre; 4.13% ether extract; 7.10% Ash and 43.91% Nitrogen free extract.

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is spice which is used for cooking and also consumed whole as a
delicacy or medicine. It have been reported to posses useful pharmacological potent chemical
substances for use in poultry (AKHTAR et al., 1984), this is due to its antioxidants,
antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, anti-parasitic and immunomodulatory properties.
The nutritional content of ginger includes protein, lipids, carbohydrates, minerals and
vitamins plus trace nutrients. Ginger also has capsaicin, curcumin and limonene as well as
proteolytic enzymes. The study was therefore designed to evaluate optimum effects of Neem
leaf and ginger powder by broiler chicks on live weights, feed intake and feed conversion
ratio.
Materials and Methods
Study Site: The experiment was carried out at the Directorate of University Farm
(DUFARM). Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. Ogun State.
Experimental materials and birds
Fresh ginger rhizome was washed, sliced and sundried ( 95% DM) while neem leaves were
plucked and allowed to dry at room temperature (262
o
C) both were milled (1.0m sieve) and
stored in an impermeable glass tubes. A total of 240 day old marshal strain broilers (40 5g
Average weight) were used in a Completely Randomized Design with six treatments (40
birds each) and four replicate of 10 birds each. The dietary treatments were as follows: A
basal diet was used as control group T1 contain neither herbs nor antibiotics, T2 was
supplemented with commercial antibiotics, T3 was supplemented with neem leaf meal at
5g/kg, T4 was supplemented with ginger at 5g/kg, T5 with a combination of neem and ginger
at 5g/kg each and T6 contained neem at 10g/kg and ginger at 7.5g/kg as supplements.
Broilers were fed a starter diet from d 1 to 28 and finisher diet from d 29 to 56. Diets were
formulated to meet nutrient requirements for starter and finisher broiler chickens and the diet
compositions are shown in Table 1 and 2. Birds were brooded and normal ambient
temperature was maintained kept. Light was provided continuously for the entire period of
experiment. Birds were fed ad libitum with free access to water throughout the whole
experiment.
Statistical Analysis: The data obtained were subjected to one way analysis of variance using
SAS (2005) and the means were compared using the Duncans multiple range test.
(DUNCAN, 1955)
Experimental diet
Table 1: Composition of Experimental Starter Diets Fed Broiler Chicks
Parameters T1 (%) T2 (%) T3 (%) T4 (%) T5 (%) T6 (%)
Maize 53.00 53.00 53.00 53.00 53.00 53.00
SBM 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00
GNC 11.00 11.00 11.00 11.00 11.00 11.00
Wheat offal 2.95 2.95 2.95 2.95 2.95 2.95
Fish meal 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00
Bone meal 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00
Oyster shell 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00
Lysine 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25
Methionine 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.30
Salt 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25
Premix 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25

0.25

0.25

Antibiotics - 0.05 - - - -
Neem leaf - - 0.5 - 0.5 1.0
Ginger - - - 0.5 0.5 0.75
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100
Determined
Analysis

M.E (MJ/kg) 14.56 15.00 14.25 14.38 15.22 12.83
DM (%) 91.00 91.00 92.00 90.50 93.00 89.50
CP (%) 20.94 21.94 21.99 21.91 23.11 23.81
EE (%) 4.00 3.50 5.00 5.50 4.00 4.50
CF (%) 5.00 5.00 6.00 5.72 6.50 6.84
Ash (%) 7.50 7.50 8.50 7.00 6.00 5.00
NFE (%) 53.56 53.06 50.51 50.37 53.39 49.32
Premix composition: Vitamin A (I.U.) 10,000.000, Vit. D
2
(I.U.) 2,000,000, Vit. E (I.U) 20,000, Vit. K (mg) 2,250,
Riboflavin (mg) 5000, Pyridoxine (mg) 275, Biotin (mg) 50, Pantothenic acid (mg) 7500, Vit. B
1
(mg) 175, Vit B
12
(mg)
15.0, Niacin (mg) 27,500, Folic acid (mg) 7500, Choline Chloride (mg) 400, Antioxidant (mg) 125, Fe (g) 20.0, Zn (g) 50.0,
Mn (g) 80.0, Cu (g) 5.0g, I (g) 12.0, Co (mg) 200, Se (mg) 200.

Table 2: composition of finisher experimental diets (5-8weeks)
Parameters T1 (%) T2 (%) T3 (%) T4 (%) T5 (%) T6 (%)
Maize 55.00 55.00 55.00 55.00 55.00 55.00
SBM 18.00 18.00 18.00 18.00 18.00 18.00
GNC 13.00 13.00 13.00 13.00 13.00 13.00
Wheat offal 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00
Fish meal 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00
Bone meal 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00
Oyster shell 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00
Lysine 0.20 0.20 0.20 0.20 0.20 0.20
Methionine 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.30
Salt 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25
Premix 0.25

0.25

0.25 0.25

0.25

0.25
Antibiotics - 0.05 - - - -
Neem - - 0.5 - 0.5 1.0
Ginger - - - 0.5 0.5 0.75
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100
Determined
Analysis

M.E (MJ/kg) 13.92 15.23 14.12 13.24 13.81 14.30
DM (%) 91.00 91.50 88.00 90.00 91.00 89.00
CP (%) 18.91 19.37 19.18 21.04 20.21 21.24
EE (%) 4.00 3.50 4.00 5.00 4.50 5.00
CF (%) 5.24 5.19 6.21 5.72 6.55 6.82
Ash (%) 7.50 7.50 6.50 6.80 6.20 6.00
NFE (%) 55.35 55.94 52.11 51.44 53.54 49.94
Premix composition: Vitamin A (I.U.) 10,000.000, Vit. D
2
(I.U.) 2,000,000, Vit. E (I.U) 20,000, Vit. K (mg) 2,250,
Riboflavin (mg) 5000, Pyridoxine (mg) 275, Biotin (mg) 50, Pantothenic acid (mg) 7500, Vit. B
1
(mg) 175, Vit B
12
(mg)
15.0, Niacin (mg) 27,500, Folic acid (mg) 7500, Choline Chloride (mg) 400, Antioxidant (mg) 125, Fe (g) 20.0, Zn (g) 50.0,
Mn (g) 80.0, Cu (g) 5.0g, I (g) 12.0, Co (mg) 200, Se (mg) 200.

Results
The result shows that there was no significant (P>0.05) difference across treatments except
for diet supplemented with neem only that has a lower final live weight of (1822.50g) while
diet supplemented with combination of neem and ginger at 5g/kg each had value of 2259.90g
for the final live weight. The average weight gain was significantly (P< 0.05) different with
diet containing combination of neem and ginger at 5g/kg each having the highest value of
57.59g and diet supplemented with neem only had the lowest value of 42.09g. The average
feed intake was significantly affected (P< 0.05) with birds fed diet supplemented with
combination of neem and ginger at 5g/kg having a lower (P<0.05) value of 145.34g and the
least (P<0.05) feed conversion ratio.
Conclusion
The mixtures of neem and ginger used in this study confered significant advantage in terms
of growth performance over the conventional antibiotics and those that contained neither
antibiotics nor herbal supplements as such can be used as growth promoters for broiler
chickens. The synergistic effects of combination of neem and ginger in this study are
noteworthy.
Table 4: Effect of neem and ginger supplementation on the performance characteristics
of broiler chickens
Parameters -ve CTRL ABT
0.5g/kg
NLM
5g/kg
GM 5g/kg NLM
5g/kg+
GM5g/kg
NLM
10g/kg

+ GM
7.5g/kg
SEM
Initial
weight
g/bird
39.61

40.36

42.50 44.09 43.75 41.81

11.91
Final body
weight
g/bird
2088.00
a
2055.90
a
1822.50
b
2051.50
a
2259.90
a
2225.90
a
39.28
Av.
Weight
gain
g/bird/day
48.81
ab
47.69
abc
42.09
c
51.05
abc
57.59
a
55.95
ab
1.48
Av. Feed
intake
g/bird
/
day
153.85
a
151.81
a
157.07
a
153.89
a
145.34
b
151.46
a
1.70
FCR 3.15
b
3.21
b
3.81
a
3.05
bc
2.47
c
2.72
bc
0.11
ab
Means on the same row having different superscripts were significantly different (P<0.05),
Av- Average-ve CTRL- Negative control ABT- Antibiotics NLM- Neem leaf meal GM- Ginger meal SEM- Pooled standard error
of mean
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