Comparison of herbal additives effects with growth-promoting antibiotic on productive traits, biochemical parameters and serum hepatic enzymes of broilers

This study aimed at comparing the effects of four commercial herbal additives and a growth-promoting antibiotic (virginiamycin) on the productive traits, some blood biochemical parameters, and serum hepatic enzymes activity of broilers. Nine hundred one day-old male broilers (Ross 308 strain) were used in a completely randomized design with five treatments and six replicates of 30 birds. The experimental treatments included the diets containing Noviherb®, Bioessence®, and Biostrong® (each at a rate of 100 g ton-1 of diet), diet containing Novigrow® (1000 g ton-1 of diet), and diet containing virginiamycin (100 g ton-1 of diet) as positive control. The amount of feed intake, body weight, mortality percentage, feed conversion ratio, and European broiler index were measured during 1 to 42 days of broilers age. At the 28 and 42 days of age, the blood samples were taken from four birds per replicate and the blood parameters including the concentration of total protein, uric acid, albumin, glucose, triglyceride, cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and the activity of gamma-glutamyl transferase, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase serum enzymes were measured. The results showed that the effects of tested herbal additives on the performance and European broiler index were not significant in comparison with the antibiotic. The concentration of blood parameters and the activity of serum liver enzymes at the 28 and 42 days of age were not affected by the experimental treatments. Based on these results, the additives evaluated could be suitable alternatives to the growth-promoting antibiotics without adversely affecting the performance and serum biochemical parameters of broilers.