EFFECTS OF MORINGA LEAF (Moringa oleifera) AND SPIRULINA (Spirulina platensis) ON THE GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF BROILER

Abstract

The study was planned to determine the comparative and combined efficacy of Moringa leaf (Moringa oleifera) and Spirulina (Spirulina platensis) on the productive performance of commercial broilers. A total of 120 day-old Lohmann Meat (Indian River) broiler chicks were reared for 28 days at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University Poultry Farm, Dhaka. Chicks were divided randomly into 4 experimental groups of 3 replicates (10 chicks with each replication). Among the four treatment groups, one group fed with basal diet as control (T 0 ) and the other groups with same diet supplemented by 2% Moringa leaf powder (T 1 ), 1% Spirulina powder (T 2 ) & 1% Moringa leaf powder+0.5% Spirulina powder (T 3 ) were treatment groups. Results of the experiment showed that addition of Moringa leaf and Spirulina combinedly improved broilers growth performance and the impact started from the third and fourth week of the feeding trial. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) was comparatively better (P>0.05) and dressing percentage was increased (P<0.05) in birds fed diets supplemented with Spirulina and both Moringa and Spirulina. Survivability was higher (non significantly, P>0.05) in combined (T 3 ) and MLP (T 1 ) feeding group compared to other treated group T 0 and T 2 . The relative weight of liver, heart, and intestine were significantly higher (P<0.05) in T 3 group than other group T 0 , T 1 and T 2 . On the other hand, gizzard and spleen were non significantly higher (P>0.05) in T 3 group than other treated groups. In case of cost benefit analysis, net profit was highest in MLP (T 1 ) treated group than the other groups. The study therefore concluded that, combined supplementation of Moringa leaf and Spirulina proved to be beneficial for increasing the growth performance of broiler chickens. However, Moringa treated group is more cost effective and profitable than other treated groups.