PERFORMANCE, HAEMATOLOGICAL INDICES AND ORGANOLEPTIC PROPERTIES OF BROILER CHICKENS FED DIET CONTAINING CINNAMON (Cinnamomum cassia) AS FEED ADDITIVE

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to determine the performance, hematological indices and organoleptic properties of broiler chicken fed different inclusion levels of cinnamon powder as feed additive. Three Hundred 300 day old Agrited Lohman strain of broiler chicken were used for the experiment and were randomly distributed to five treatments of 60 birds each with three replicate consisting of 20 birds per replicate in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The dietary treatment consisted of T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5 with cinnamon supplementation at 0.0g, 0.5g, 1.0g, 1.5g, and 2.0g respectively in drinking water. Feed and water were supplied ad libtum and the experiment lasted for seven (7) weeks. At the end of the 7^th week, data were collected on growth performance, organoleptic properties and hematological indices by starving bird of feed overnight. Blood samples for analysis were collected in different set of bottles from three birds per treatment through their wing vein. The result showed that there is significant difference (p < 0.05) across the body weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio and the haematological parametres measured. However, the results of organoleptic properties also indicate significant difference (p < 0.05) among the properties tested. Based on the results of this study, it was concluded that inclusion T5 with 2.0g of cinnamon powder in chicken drinking water improved performance and hematological status of the chickens without compromising it performance, health status and overall meat quality as such its recommended to poultry farmers