Effect of Aqueous Ginger (Zingiber officinale) Extract Supplementation on Growth Performance and Production Efficiency in Broiler Chickens
J. D. Chaudhary
Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary Science and A.H., Kamdhenu University, Sardarkrushinagar-385506, Gujarat, India.
S. S. Patil
Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary Science and A.H., Kamdhenu University, Sardarkrushinagar-385506, Gujarat, India.
M. M. Pawar *
Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary Science and A.H., Kamdhenu University, Sardarkrushinagar-385506, Gujarat, India.
S. K. Mohapatra
Department of Animal Biotechnology, College of Veterinary Science and A.H., Kamdhenu University, Sardarkrushinagar-385506, Gujarat, India.
A. K. Srivastava
Department of Livestock Production Management, College of Veterinary Science and A.H., Kamdhenu University, Sardarkrushinagar-385506, Gujarat, India.
C. P. Modi
Pashu Vigyan Kendra (Thara), Kamdhenu University, Sardarkrushinagar-385506, Gujarat, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
An experiment was conducted to assess the effect of aqueous ginger extract supplementation on growth performance, production efficiency and return over feed cost in broiler chickens. A total of 192, day-old broiler chicks were allocated randomly into four dietary treatments with 48 birds per treatment. The dietary treatments were T1: Basal diet, T2: Basal diet + 50 ml aqueous extract of ginger in 1000 ml of water per day, T3: Basal diet + 100 ml aqueous extract of ginger in 1000 ml of water per day and T4: Basal diet + 200 ml aqueous extract of ginger in 1000 ml of water per day. The parameters studied were body weights, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, protein intake and efficiency, production efficiency and return over feed cost. Results revealed that the final body weight and overall body weight gain were significantly (P<0.001) improved in T3 and T4 groups followed by T2 group as compared to control (T1) group. The total feed intake was 3880.13, 3866.97, 3832.72 and 3761.29 g/bird in T1, T2, T3 and T4 groups, respectively, indicating significant (P<0.001) reduction in feed intake with increasing levels of aqueous ginger extract supplementation in broiler chickens. The overall FCR values were 1.81, 1.75, 1.68 and 1.64 in T1, T2, T3 and T4 groups, respectively, showing significant (P<0.001) improvement in feed conversion efficiency with increasing levels of ginger extract. The mean protein efficiency ratio in broiler chickens were significantly (P=0.002) improved in T4 (2.57) followed by T3 (2.50) and T2 (2.41) groups as compared to the T1 (2.32) group. The overall production efficiency factor was significantly (P=0.004) higher with increasing levels of aqueous ginger extract supplementation than the control group. The return over the feed cost of T1 group (control) compared to T2, T3 and T4 was 25.20, 48.48 and 63.48 % respectively. Based on the results of the study, it could be concluded that supplementation of aqueous ginger extract in water improved body weight gain, feed conversion ratio, protein and production efficiency and return over feed cost in broiler chickens.
Keywords: Aqueous ginger extract, broilers, growth traits, production efficiency, return over feed cost