Blood Profile of Starter Broiler Birds Fed Diets Supplemented with Lemongrass and Pawpaw Leaf Meal

Background and Objective: To fortify the immune system of poultry birds and create a stable immunity within and without, synthetic feed additives have been used for a long period, though with great side effects. To bypass some of the side effects and build a natural immune stability with little or no side effects, the use of plant-based materials such as leaf meal have been adopted. Thus, this research work is focused on the blood profile of starter broiler birds fed diets fortified with lemon grass and pawpaw leaf meal. Materials and Methods: Ninety-six days old broiler chicks of Ross 308 strain were used for the work. The experiment was carried out at the poultry site of the Federal College of Agriculture, Ishiagu in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Four diets were compounded at 3% inclusion levels, with diet 1 containing 0% lemon grass and pawpaw leaf meal, which served as the control. Diets 2, 3, and 4 contained lemon grass and pawpaw leaf meal at the levels and ratios of 0.75:2.25, 1.50:1.50, and 2.25:0.75, respectively. Blood was collected from the birds and used for serum and hematological analysis at the end of the research work. Results: A superior value of 3.71 g/dL for total protein was obtained in treatment 1, which did not differ from the values of 3.57 and 3.61 g/dL reported in treatments 2 and 4. The lowest value of 3.38 g/dL was seen in treatment 3. The highest value of albumin with 2.00 g/dL was obtained in treatment 1, while the lowest value of 1.57 g/dL was obtained in treatment 3, which was similar to those of 1.72 and 1.65 g/dL found in treatments 2 and 4, respectively. The value of 7.79 U/L (T3), was superior for ALT, which did not differ from the value of 6.66 U/L (T2) and 7.04 U/L (T1), but was different in 6.33 U/L (T4), respectively. Packed cell volume had the highest levels of 34.66% in treatment 2, which was similar to those of 34.41% in treatment 4, while the lowest value of 30.34% was observed in treatment 1. A superior value for hemoglobin was reported in treatment 4 with 10.75 g/dL, but the least value of 9.03 g/dL was seen in treatment 1. Mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular hemoglobin values showed no significant differences across the treatment groups. Conclusion: It can be deduced from the present study that the inclusion of lemongrass and pawpaw leaf meal in the diet of finisher broiler up to the level of 3% in a combination of 0.75:2.25, 1.50:1.50 and 2.25:0.75 gave a positive result in terms of immune stability of the birds in those treatments and zero mortality in treatments fortified with the test ingredients.