The effect of Prosopis farcta on the performance, some blood parameters, immune and antioxidant system of broiler chickens under heat stress conditions

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of fruit powder Prosopis farcta on performance, carcass traits, blood biochemical parameters and antioxidant and immune system of broilers under heat stress. The number of 250 male Ross 308 one-day chicks in a completely randomized design with 5 treatments, 5 replicates per and 10 chicks each was used. The treatments were negative control (non-stress), positive control (stress) and three levels of 1, 3and 5 percent fruit powder Prosopis farcta. The heat stress schedule were done for last two weeks of experiment in a room temperature that was increased to 38 ±2°C during the for 6 hours per day. The results showed that the addition of dried fruit Prosopis farcta in broilers under stress significantly reduced body weight, food consumption, energy efficiency, and protein production index and feed conversion ratio was also significantly increased. The treatments had a significant effect on carcass yield, pancreas, gall bladder and liver. However, the relative weight of the breast, thigh and the relative length of the intestine markedly affected by treatments and increased compared with the control. Cholesterol, glucose, LDL, AST, ALT, LDH and MDA levels were significantly decreased with the addition of dried fruit Prosopis farcta under heat stress condition but the concentration of HDL, total protein and albumin did not significantly change. The antibody titer against SRBC was increased with increasing the levels of Prosopis farcta.