Potentials Of <i>Mentha piperita</i> (L.) and <i>Azadirachta indica</i> (A. Juss.) leaves as nutritional supplements for growth promotion in broiler chickens

Abstract

Medicinal plants are used in many ways by different environments and cultures; some are used for growth promotion in Broiler chickens. This research was conducted to evaluate Azadirachta indica (Neem) and Mentha piperita (Mint) for growth promotion in broiler chickens. Toxicity of the two plant extracts was tested on mice, all the rats survived the two phases, rendering the plant samples nontoxic and safe for consumption. Fifty (50) day- old broiler chickens were divided into 5 experimental units of 10 chicks each. Commercially formulated broiler starter and finisher rations were offered from 0-4 and 4- 6 weeks of age. Authenticated samples of the plant materials were dried in shade, pulverized and mixed with 1g and 5g/ kg of feed. The experimental treatments comprised
of the control (containing no feed additive), 1g of Neem per kg of feed, 5g of Neem per kg of feed, 1g of Mint per kg of feed and 5g of Mint per kg of feed. Data regarding feed intake, live weight were recorded on weekly basis and mortality was also recorded accordingly. Weight gain was calculated on weekly basis by subtracting weight of the respective week from the last week’s weight. At the end of the experiment, no significant difference was observed (P<0 .05) on the chickens fed with 1g/kg of Mentha piperita where as significant difference was observed in the remaining treatments. It was concluded from this research that Azadirachta indica and Mentha piperita can be used as nutritional supplements for growth promotion in Broiler Chickens.