Comparative effect of honey, orange juice, glucose and milk as water additives on performance and carcass qualities of broiler chickens

Abstract

A fifty-six day experiment was carried out to determine the effect of using honey, orange juice, glucose and milk as water additives on the performance and carcass qualities of broiler chickens. Water alone served as treatment 1 (control) while 100ml of honey, orange juice, glucose and milk each served as treatments 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively in a completely randomized design. The treatments were replicated thrice during the eight weeks of the experiment. The final weight, and feed conversion ratio improved significantly (P<0.05) in T₅. The final weights of T₂-T₄ were similar (P>0.05) but T₅ is significantly (P<0.05) greater than T1. The FCR of T₁-T₅ were similar (P>0.05). T₃ and T₄ were similar (P>0.05) while T₅ is significantly better than T₃. Feed intake was higher (P>0.05) in T₃ and T₄ and lowest in T₁. The water/additive intake of birds given T₄ was significantly higher (P<0.05) than those on T₁, T₂, T₃ and T₅. The carcass weight, thigh and drumstick of broiler given T₄ and T₅ were significantly better (P<0.05) than other treatments. The breast weight, wing and back of T₁ and T₅ were similar (P>0.05). However, T₅ had better breast weight than others while wing and back were significantly better (P<0.05) in T₄. The liver of T₁-T₄ were not significantly different (P>0.05) but T₅ is higher than T₃. The heart, proventriculus and intestines of T₄ and T₅ were not significantly different (P>0.05) but were better (P<0.05) than those of T₁-T₃ which were similar (P>0.05). The kidney and lungs in T₂-T₅ were similar (P>0.05) but significantly better than T₁. The values of spleen and gizzard were generally not significant (P>0.05) in all the treatments. Furthermore, the cost of production, cost/weight gain of birds given orange juice were significantly higher (P<0.05) than others. The revenue generated from broilers given milk was significantly higher (P<0.05) than those given orange juice but not significantly different (P>0.05) from others. Gross margin (profit) of broilers given milk was significantly higher (P<0.05) than those given water alone, honey, orange juice and glucose respectively. It is therefore recommended that milk be mixed in the water given to broilers for better growth rate, carcass values and profitability.

Key words: Water additives, honey, glucose, orange juice, milk, water.