EFFECT OF SUPPLEMENTATION OF ASHWAGANDHA (Withania somnifera) ROOT POWDER AND SYNBIOTIC ON PERFORMANCE OF BROILERS
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Date
2023-03
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SRI VENKATESWARA VETERINARY UNIVERSITY TIRUPATI - 517 502. (A.P.) INDIA
Abstract
This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of supplementation of
ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) root powder and synbiotic at different
levels in broiler diets on growth performance, serum biochemical profile,
digestibility of nutrients, carcass characteristics and cost economics in broilers.
One hundred and eighty, day old chicks were distributed randomly into six
dietary groups each with three replicates of ten chicks and were offered broiler
diets to meet the nutrient requirements (ICAR, 2013).
Broilers were fed on maize-soya based pre-starter (0-2 weeks), starter
(2-4 weeks) and finisher (4-6 weeks) diets. The six treatment groups were
provided diets supplemented with various levels of ashwagandha (Withania
somnifera) root powder and synbiotic (S) either alone or in combination as
follows: Basal diet without antibiotics (T1) - as negative control, basal diet
with antibiotics (T2) - as positive control, basal diet plus ARP at 10 g/kg feed
(T3), basal diet plus S at 0.5 g/kg feed (T4), basal diet plus ARP at 10 g/kg
feed plus S at 0.5 g/kg feed (T5), and basal diet plus ARP at 5 g/kg feed plus S
at 0.5 g/kg feed (T6) which was iso-caloric and iso nitrogenous.
Results indicated that supplementation of ashwagandha root powder and
synbiotic either alone or in combination in the diet resulted in increased
(p<0.01) body weight gain, improved (p<0.01) FCR, increased (p<0.01)
performance index and improved (p<0.01) protein efficiency ratio while there
was decrease (p<0.05) on overall feed intake of birds.
The serum biochemical profile of broilers revealed that supplementation
of supplementation of ashwagandha or synbiotic alone or in combination in the
diet had no effect (p>0.05) on serum A/G ratio and creatinine levels. However,
the serum total protein, albumin and globulin (p<0.01), HDL (p<0.05), serum
calcium (p<0.05) and serum phosphorus levels (p<0.01) increased while the
serum glucose, triglycerides (p<0.01), total cholesterol (p<0.05), LDL
cholesterol (p<0.01), VLDL cholesterol (p<0.05), serum AST (p<0.01) and
ALT (p<0.01) content decreased with supplementation of higher level of
ashwagandha (10 g/kg feed) or (5 g/kg feed) plus 0.05% synbiotic in broilers as
compared to the unsupplemented group. On the other hand, the serum urea
levels increased linearly from T1 to T6 with combination of ashwagandha or
synbiotic alone or in combination.
The digestibility coefficients of DM, OM, CP, CF, EE and NFE
significantly (p<0.01) increased with supplementation of ashwagandha or
synbiotic either alone or in combination in the basal diet of broilers as
compared to the unsupplemented group. Further, supplementation of
ashwagandha root powder and synbiotic in broiler diets had no significant
effect (p>0.05) on calcium, phosphorus and nitrogen retention when compared
to control.
Supplementation of ashwagandha (10 g/kg feed) + 0.05% synbiotic in
the diet had increased (p<0.05) carcass characteristics parameters viz., carcass
yield, ready to cook yield, breast meat yield, weight of heart and dressing
percentage while there was no effect (p>0.05) weight of drumstick, breast meat
%, giblet % and relative organ weights viz., weights of liver, gizzard, spleen
and giblet among the treatment groups in broilers.
Further, significant reduction in mortality is observed in ashwagandha
and synbiotic supplemented groups. The feed cost/kg gain decreased by ₹ 6.23
in T2, ₹ 0.62 in T3, ₹ 3.20 in T4, ₹ 7.27 in T5 and ₹ 4.64 in T6 groups of broilers
fed diets supplemented with ashwagandha root powder and synbiotic at varying
levels as compared to the control (T1). Thus, based on the results it can be
concluded that ashwagandha root powder up to 10g/kg feed, combined with
synbiotic at 0.5g/kg feed as feed supplement, can be used as an alternative to
antibiotic growth promoter duly optimising feed cost and ensuring enhanced
production performance in broilers.