Abstract

Ninety Cobb-500 straight run broiler chicks were allotted into three dietary groups; D₁ (Control diet), D₂ (diet with 0.5g Bacillus Subtilis/kg diet), D₃ (diet with 10g Spirulina Platensis/kg diet) having 3 replicates in each and 10 chicks/replicate. The birds were reared on a littered floor management system for 35 days of age and fed a starter diet (0-14 days) that contained 22% CP and 2900Kcal ME/kg diet and a finisher diet (15-35 days) contained 19% CP and 3000Kcal ME/kg diet. Dietary groups did not differ statistically for the body weight, feed intake, FCR, mortality, cost of production, and net profit (p˃0.05). However, diet D₂ tended to perform the best among the 3 diets in terms of body weight, feed intake, FCR, mortality, production cost, and net profit. Of the two diets, D1 tended to show lower production costs and a higher net profit compared to D3. The highest dressed meat yield and heart weight were noted in D1, followed by D₃ and D₂, respectively. Hence, diet D₂ was comparable to diet D3 in the case of meat yield traits. Diets were found to be similar in total cholesterol, Triglyceride (TG), Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL), and High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL) (p<0.05). However, D₂ tended to be the lowest for total cholesterol, and LDL, and the highest for HDL, followed by D₁ and D₃, respectively. Therefore, Bacillus Subtilis (0.5gBS/kg diet=D₂) may be beneficial for broiler production

Keywords:Broiler chicken; Growth; Lipid profiles; Meat yields; Probiotic; Spirulina