Authors : A. Golian, M. Aami Azghadi and M. Sedghi
Abstract: There hundard sixty days old male Ross broiler chicks were randomly divided into 12 feeding regimens with five replicates of six birds each. One corn-soybean meal-based starter diet was first provided and then the levels of 0 (control), 2 g kg-1 Fermacto, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 g kg-1 Cumin Seed (CS) and 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 g kg-1 Cumin Seed Meal (CSM) were replaced with wheat bran to provide 12 starter diets. The grower diets contained half of the same supplementation of the starter diets and an un-supplemented finisher diet was fed to all birds. Body Weight (BW) and Feed Intake (FI) was recorded and Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) was calculated during all periods. The carcass yields and relative organ weights measured at 28 and 42 day whereas the concentration of blood metabolites and differential leukocyte counting were determined at day 28. The supplementation of diet with CSM increased BW and improved FCR (p<0.05) but birds BW decreased numerically with the increase in CS in grower diets. The FI in all periods was not influenced (p>0.05) by the addition of Fermacto, CS and CSM as compared to control fed birds. The relative organ weights were not influenced by Fermacto, CSM and CS (p>0.05) on day 28 and 42, although abdominal fat pad was decreased in birds fed diet with highest levels of CSM and CS measured at day 28 (p<0.05). The inclusion of Fermacto and high level of CS (10 and 5 g kg-1 in starter and grower diets, respectively) increased Lymphocyte and decreased Heterophile and Monocyte proportion of WBC (p<0.05). This study revealed that the inclusion of CS and Fermacto in broiler diets does not significantly affect performance, although CSM improved final BW of birds. The relative organ weights and blood metabolites were similar in birds fed diet contained Fermacto, CS and/or CSM at day 42 but these supplementations may influence white blood cells differentiation measured at 28 day of age.
A. Golian, M. Aami Azghadi and M. Sedghi, 2010. The Comparison of Supplemental Cumin Seed and Cumin Seed Meal with Prebiotic Fermacto on Blood Metabolites and Performance of Broiler Chickens. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 9: 2546-2551.