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Performance of Bellicharana broilers on Azadiracta indica leaves powder-supplemented diet
SATISH J. MANWAR, P. THIRUMURUGAN, ASMA KHAN AND A. B. MANDAL*
Division of Livestock Production & Management,
Faculty of Veterinary Sciences & Animal Husbandry,
Sher- e- KashsmirUniversity of Agricultural Sciences & Technology,
Jammu R.S. Pura, Jammu-181102
*N&FT Division, CARI, Izatnagar-243122
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The present investigation was carried out to study the effect of neem (Azadiracta indica) leaves powder on the performance of Bellicharana broilers. Eighty-day-old broiler chicks were randomly distributed into four treatment groups of two replications in each and reared up to six weeks of age in battery cage system on standard and uniform husbandry conditions. The neem leaves powder was added over the basal ration @ 1 g/Kg feed (T 2), 2 g/Kg feed (T 3), 3g/Kg feed (T 4), where as the T 1 was control. The basal ration was having 22% CP and 2900 kcal/Kg ME. The average body weight of day old chick was 38.29 grams. The chicks were randomly distributed into different treatment groups. Significant difference in the body weight gain was observed among the treatment groups from third week and in body weight from fifth week onwards. At sixth week all the treatment groups (T 2-1573.5 +228.51, T 3-582.6 +227.86, T 4-1535.9 +172.62) weighed significantly higher body weight than the control (T 1-1358.1 +204.82). However, T2 and T3 showed numerically higher body weight than the T4. The blood biochemical revealed no significant differences. No gross pathological changes in the organs were observed in the treated birds. These results indicated that supplementation of neem leaves giving significantly higher body weight and the optimum level of supplementation should be @ 1-2g/ Kg feed. However, further research is needed to find its effect on disease resistance through immunological studies.
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