ABSTRACT

A study was carried out to determine the effect of Crina Poultry Plus® (a natural blend of essential oils and benzoic acid) on the performance, nutrient digestibility, microbial population and blood biochemistry of broiler chickens. Six treatment diets were formulated by the addition of Crina Poultry Plus®(CPP®) at 0, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4. 0.5 and 0.6g/kg of feed. The diets were fed as mash at the starter phase (d 0-21) as well as at the finisher phase(d 21-42). Two hundred and forty day-old chicks were allocated to the six dietary treatments with each treatment having 4 replicates. Each replicate had 10 broilers. Measurments were performance indices (live weight. live weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion and protein efficiency ratio), carcass and organ characteristics, nutrient utilization, feed cost benefit, haematology, lipid and serum profile, and microbial population in the intestine.Results showed that birds fed diets supplemented with CPP® had significantly heavier body weight (BW) and higher (P<0.05) live weight gain and similar feed conversion ratio when compared with the control group during starter phase. The dressing percentage, thigh, drum stick, breast cut and back cut increased significantly (P<0.05) when diets were supplemented with CPP11 compared with the control diet. The result of the microbial population showed that lactic acid bacteria (LAB) counts were significantly (P<0.05) higher in the crop and ceca of birds fed diet containing CPP" compared to the control group while the coliform count was significantly (P<0.05) higher in the crop and ceca of broilers fed control diets compared to diets supplemented with CPP". The PCV. RBC, lib and WBC were significantly (P<0.05) higher in broilers fed CPP® compared to the control group, while the cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipo-protein were significantly (P<0.05) lower compared to birds fed control diet.High density lipo-protein was significantly (P<0.05) higher in birds led diets containing CPP® than those fed control diet. The supplementation of ( PP improved nutrient digestibility in broiler chickens. Birds fed diet containing 0.6g of CPP had numerically lower cost per kg of weight gained compared to other treatment groups. It was concluded that the addition of 0.6 g CPP® in broiler diets improved performance, nutrient utilization.carcass and organ characteristic of broilers, maintained the haematological indices and microbial balance in the gut ofthe broilers.