Effect of different levels of dietary inclusion of Saccharomyces cerevisiae on growth performance and hematological parameters in broiler birds

Charles O. Osita, Augustine O. Ani, Chika E. Oyeagu, Eunice A. Akuru, Leonard C. Ugwuowo3, Valentine C. Udeh1 and Uzochukwu J. O

Abstract: The effect of different levels of dietary inclusion of Saccharomyces cerevisiae on growth performance and hematological parameters in broiler birds were investigated. One hundred and twenty (120) four weeks old broiler birds were used for the experiment. The one hundred and twenty (120) birds were weighed and randomly allocated into four (4) treatment groups (T1, T2, T3 and T4) having thirty (30) birds per treatment. Each treatment was replicated three (3) times with ten (10) birds per replicate. Treatment 1 served as the control and did not contain any Saccharomyces cerevisiae supplement, while treatments 2, 3 and 4 contained 0.7, 1.2 and 1.7 g/kg of basal diet respectively of Saccharomyces cerevisiae supplement. The experiment lasted four weeks. Results showed that there were no significant (p > 0.05) differences among treatments in initial body weight and average daily feed intake while significant (p < 0.05) differences among treatments existed in the final body weight, total body weight gain, average daily weight gain, and feed conversion ratio. The study also revealed that there were no significant (p > 0.05) differences among treatments in hemoglobin concentration, packed cell volume, red blood cell count, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin,, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, white blood cell count, neutrophil count, lymphocyte count, monocytes count, and eosinophils count Based on the results obtained in this study, it was concluded that any of the treatments (T2, T3 and T4) is recommended to enhance broiler production.

Keywords: broilers; growth performance; hematological parameters; Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Date published: 2020-10-19