DIERTY EFFECT OF FENNEL SEEDS (Foeniculum Vulgaris L.) AS GROWTH PROMOTER ON THE PERFORMANCE OF BROILER

Abstract

To investigate the effects of feeding different level of Fennel (Foeniculum vulgaris L.) powder on the performance of broiler during summer (September-October), 2019. Four experimental diets designated as T0, T1, T2 and T3 having 0%, 0.5%, 1% and 2% dried Fennel (Foeniculum vulgaris L.) powder was fed to (96) vigorous day-old Broiler chicks. The chicks were, randomly and equally distributed to 4 treatments having 3 replicates of 8 birds each. The experiment was lasted for 35 days. Average weight gain, feed consumption, feed efficiency, dressing yield and survivability were used as the criteria of response to feeding the Fennel (Foeniculum vulgaris L.) powder. Organs weight including heart, liver and gizzard were also recorded. Results showed that addition of Fennel (Foeniculum vulgaris L.) powder increased the body weight (P<0.05) in broiler irrespective of doses and the mean body weight per broiler were 1298.69, 1416.58, 1463.59 and 1433.14g in the T0, T1, T2, and T3, respectively (P<0.05). The average feed consumption per broiler were 2455.82, 2244.08, 2235.62 and 2223.61g (P<0.05) in the T0, T1, T2 and T3, respectively. The feed conversion ratio (feed/gain) were 1.48, 1.20, 1.17 and 1.19 (P<0.05) in the T0, T1, T2 and T3, respectively. The mean dressing yield were 58.32%, 59.00%, 62.25% and 61.41% (P<0.05) for the groups of T0, T1, T2 and T3, respectively. The average weights of abdominal fat were 2.73, 1.73, 1.59 and 1.63g (P<0.05) and where the heart weights were 6.46, 7.30, 8.1 and 7.5g (P<0.05), in T0, T1, T2 and T3, respectively. The average weights of liver were 38.1, 38.52, 41.21 and 39.98g (P>0.05) in the T0, T1, T2 and T3, respectively. The mean gizzard weights were 37.47, 37.56, 38.77 and 37.8g (P>0.05) for the groups of T0, T1, T2, and T3, respectively. It was concluded that Fennel (Foeniculum vulgaris L.) powder at 1 to 28 days of age at the level of 0.5%, 1% and 2% be used as feed additive to enhance overall performance of broiler.