GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES OF INSHAS COCKERELS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ASHAWGANDHA (WITHANIA SOMNIFERA) ROOT POWDER | ||||
| Egyptian Poultry Science Journal | ||||
| Article 9, Volume 43, Issue 1, March 2023, Page 127-139 PDF (592.06 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/epsj.2023.294612 | ||||
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| Authors | ||||
| maysa mostafa hanafy1; M. M. M. Ouda2; Amina S. El-Saadany2; M. E., Farag3 | ||||
| 1institute | ||||
| 21Dep. of Poult. Breeding Res. Anim. Prod. Res. Inst., Agric. Res. Center, Egypt | ||||
| 32Dep. of Poult. Nutr. Res. Anim. Prod. Res. Inst., Agric. Res. Center, Egypt | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| The present study was aimed to determine the effects of different levels of Ashwagandha root powder (Withania somnifera) on growth performance, immunity status and serum biochemical parameters in cockerels of Inshas chicks. A total number of 225 cockerels of Inshas local strain aged 28-day were randomly divided into five treatment groups. Each treatment group was represented by three replicates, of 15 cockerels each and housed in 15 rearing cages until the end of the experiment (16 weeks of age). The treatments consisted of five groups of Ashwagandha (0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 %). Body weight and body weight gain increased in Ashwagandha treated groups. Feed consumption was significantly decreased and feed conversion was significantly improved by adding Ashwagandha to the diet. The highest carcass, gizzard, liver, heart and spleen percentages were achieved by supplementation of 0.5% Ashwagandha in feed of cockerels. On the other hand, a significant reduction in the relative weight of abdominal fat was observed in Ashwagandha treated groups as compared to untreated group. Supplementation of Ashwagandha root powder significantly (P<0.05) increased blood RBCs, WBCs, Hb, PCV, IBV titer, total protein, globulin, T3, TAC and HDL, while, blood cholesterol was significantly (P<0.05) decreased as compared to control group. A non-significant difference was noted in albumin, the liver function enzymes and LDL in all treatment groups as compared to control. It may be concluded that the inclusion of 0.5 % of Ashwagandha root powder in cockerels ration as a herbal feed additive was beneficial in improving the growth performance, blood hematological and biochemical profile. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Ashwagandha, Cockerels, Growth, Carcass, Haematology; Serum biochemistry | ||||
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