PHYTOBIOTIC EFFECT OF LEMON GRASS (Cymbopogon citratus) LEAF AND ORANGE (Citrus sinensis) PEEL MEALS ON PERFORMANCE AND ILEAL BACTERIAL COUNT OF NOILER CHICKENS

The experiment was conducted to evaluate the phytobiotic effect of feeding lemon grass leaf
meal (LGM) and orange peel meal (OPM) on growth performance indices of Noiler chicken in
Kebbi State, Nigeria. Their effects on bacterial populations were also investigated. Ninety (90)
1-day old Noiler birds were randomly assigned to five (5) treatment groups with three (3)
replicates of six (6) birds each in a completely randomized design (CRD). The treatments
included: Birds fed basal diet without additive (negative control; T0); Birds fed basal diet with
antibiotics (positive control; T1); Birds fed basal diets and 4g/L each of LGM and OPM as T2
and T3 respectively; while T4 received 4g/L of LGM+OPM on 1:1 ratio. Ileal digesta of
slaughtered birds were collected bacterial population analysis. The results on the feeding trial
showed significant (P<0.05) difference in weight gain (WG), feed intake (FI), feed conversion
ratio (FCR) and mortality at starter phase though BWG, FCR and mortality did not differ
significantly (P>0.05) for finisher birds. Noiler birds fed LGM+OPM had higher BWG
(148.07g/d) and best FCR (1.39g:g) compared to other treatments. For bacterial populations, no
significant (P>0.05) variation was observed among the treatments. However, birds fed
LGM+OPM (T4) diet had lowest bacterial load (2.2x106
cfu/g) compared with the antibiotic
(14.2x106
cfu/g) and control (18.8x106
cfu/g) groups. In conclusion, combined LGM and OPM
improved WG and feed efficiency of Noiler birds at starter and finisher phases of growth and
reduced intestinal bacterial populations hence, can be used in place of convectional antibiotic.