Growth Performance, nutrient digestibility, cecal microbial population, and histomorphology of broiler fed Conocarpus erectus leaf extract

Abstract

A feeding trial investigated the effects of C. erectus leaf extract supplementation on growth per-formance, nutrient digestibility, microbial population, and intestinal histomorphology of broiler chick-ens. A total of three hundred one-day-old broilers were allocated in a completely randomised design to evaluate five dietary treatments with five replicates of twelve broilers each. The experimental diets were formulated by supplementing the basal diet with C. erectus leaf extract at 0%, 0.25%, 0.50%, 0.75%, and 1.0%. Feed and body weight were recorded weekly; digesta samples were collected on the slaughter day. Results showed that dietary supplementation with C. erectus leaf extract did not affect (P > 0.05) growth performance and nutrient digestibility. The 0.75% and 1% C. erectus leaf extract enhanced (P<0.05) relative ileum length, whereas 0.5% increased (P<0.01) relative ileum weight. The relative gizzard weight was higher (P<0.05) in birds fed 1%, whereas the lowest in birds given 0.25%. Birds receiving 0.25% and 0.5% C. erectus leaf extract showed a significant reduction (P<0.01) in Escherichia coli numbers, whereas dietary inclusion of 0.75% resulted in an increase (P<0.01) in Sal-monella numbers and improved (P<0.05) the gut morphology. In conclusion, C. erectus leaf extract at 0.25 %could be supplemented to the broiler diet, resulting in improved intestinal morphology, reduced Escherichia coli numbers without any detrimental impacts on the growth performance and nutrient digestibility.