Effect of moringa, thyme, sumac and their mixture on broiler performance, carcass quality and blood parameters

This study was conducted to find the effect of inclusion of three herbal powders (moringa leaves powder, sumac fruit powder and thyme leaves powder and their mixture) with 1 % concentration on fattening performance, carcass traits and some blood parameters of broiler. A total of one-hundred-eighty-one day-old-male-broiler-chicks (Ross 308) were divided into five dietary treatments with 3 replicates. On arrival, the birds were weighted and fed together by 7th day of age. Chicks were put in floor pens in a controlled house at 8 d of age, and kept till end of the experiment. Non-pelleted diets (ad libitum) were offered as starter, grower and finisher at 7-21, 22-35 and 36-42 days, respectively. Clean water was provided throughout the period of the experiment. Live body weight, body weight gain, accumulative feed intake and feed conversion ratio were recorded weekly. At the end of experiment, totally 30 birds were slaughtered to analyze carcass cuts percentages and blood parameters. Moringa leaves powder (T2), Sumac fruit powder (T3), and Moringa, Sumac and Thyme mixture (T4) had significant (P<0.05) and positive effects on live body weight (LBW) and feed conversion ratio in broiler chicks. The treatments did not have significant effect on carcass traits except carcass yield, thighs and wings percentages of the birds in T3 group. Sumac and thyme feed additives had effects on abdominal fat and some of internal organs weights, but other treatments did not, however abdominal fat was decreased significantly (P<0.05) by Sumac and Thyme compared to control group. Also there were positive effects on the most of broilers feed conversion ratio comparing to the control group during the experiment. Also there were no significant (P>0.05) effects observed in serum biochemistry analysis, except Albumin of the blood in group T5 as compared to control group and other treatments. In terms of blood lipids, there were significant effects (P<0.05) on Triglycerides, LDL and VLDL in T2, T3 and T5. But there were no significant differences in mean cholesterol and HDL among treatments. As a result, according to the research, it is recommended to use mixture of alternative herbal plants (Moringa, Sumac and Thyme) and Moringa oleifera alone for growth promoter in spite of antibiotic in the commercial broiler ration. Keywords: Broiler, moringa, sumac, thyme, fattening, blood and carcass.