Performance and haematology of broiler strains (cobbs and arbor-acre) fed ginger (Zingiber officinale) based diet at the early phase

The research was conducted to evaluate the performance and haematology of broiler strains (Cobbs and Arbor-acre) fed ginger (Zingiber officinale) at the early phase. A total of one hundred and forty-four (144) day old chicks of mixed sexes comprising of two different strains were used for the experiment. They were randomly assigned to the three different experimental treatment groups. Treatment 1 (T1 = basal diet only); Treatment 2 (T2 = basal diet + 0.5% ginger); Treatment 3 (T3 = basal diet + 1.0% ginger). Each treatment group was replicated three (3) times in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Results showed that ginger inclusion caused significant (p< 0.05) increase on final weight, weight gain, daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio, as better performance was recorded with the increase in the inclusion level of ginger. Final weight, weight gain, daily weight gains and feed conversion ratio was significantly affected by strain treatment interaction at 0.5% ginger inclusion as theCobbs strain had a higher performance than the Arbor acre strain. The effect of dietary levels of ginger (Zingiber officinale) on the haematology of different strains of broiler showed that ginger inclusion significantly increased (p<0.05) all the haematological parameters evaluated except for PCV. It is observed that there were better haematological indices for Cobbs strain, and better response at 1% ginger inclusion. Inclusion of ginger (at 1%) favoured the performance and haematological indices of broiler chickens.