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Haematological and ser0logical response of broiler chickens fed varying levels of direct fed microbes as feed additive
Abstract
A study was conducted using one hundred and twenty day-old Ross 308 broiler chicks to evaluate blood and serum chemistry response of broiler chickens fed direct fed microbes The birds were obtained from a reputable hatchery and randomly assigned to four dietary treatments, each with three replicates of ten birds per treatment. The treatments were T1, T2, T3 and T4, the levels of inclusion of direct fed microbes (DFM) were 0%, 2.5%, 5.0% and 7.5% respectively. The birds were assigned to these treatment diets, feed and water was given ad libitum throughout the duration of the experiment which lasted for 56 days. The experimental design was Completely Randomized Design (CRD). At the end of the experiment blood samples were collected from the broilers and taken to the laboratory for hematological and serum chemistry analysis. The hematological characteristics of the broiler shows that there was no significant (P>0.05) in haemoglobin (Hb), Packed Cell Volume (PCV), Red Blood Cell (RBC), White Blood Cell (WBC), Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV), Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin (MCH) and Mean Cell Haemoglobin Concentration (MCHC). The WBC portrayed decreasing trend as the level of DFM increased, also the Hb, MCV and MCH portrayed an increasing trend as the DFM increased in the treatment diet up to the 5% inclusion level. The serum chemistry result shows that there was a significant difference (P<0.05) in total serum protein and globulin whereas no significant difference (P>0.05) was observed in serum albumin, glucose, urea and creatinine. From the result it could be concluded that birds fed diet 2 performed better as they compete favourably with the control. Birds fed diet 2 also had a balanced physiological system.
Keywords: Direct Fed Microbe, Growth Performance and Broiler birds
