Effect of adding Cynara scolymus L. (artichoke) extract to water or diet on the productive performance of broilers

The experiment was carried out in the poultry field of the Department of Animal Production/College of Agriculture/the University of Diyala from 4/9/2021 to 10/14/2021 to study the effect of adding Cynara scolymus L. )artichoke( extract to the diet of broilers. It was used as an antioxidant to show its effect on birds' productive, physiological and immune performance. In this experiment, 225 unsexed Ross 308 hybrid broiler chicks were used (one day age), with an initial weight of 44.36 g/chick. These chicks were randomly distributed from the first day of receiving them to five experimental treatments with three replicates for each treatment (15 birds/repeat). The experimental treatments were: T1 = (control treatment) provided a standard diet free of additives, T2 = Standard ration plus 75 mg/L artichoke extract, T3 = a standard diet supplemented with 150 mg/L artichoke extract, T4 = Standard ration to which 2 g/kg of artichoke extract is added, and T5 = Standard ration to which 3 g/kg of artichoke extract is added. The experiment results indicated a significant effect on product traits when adding different artichoke leaf extract powder levels to Ross 308 broiler water and diet (1-42 days). Generally, treatment T3 was significantly (P<0.05) superior in the fourth week in recording the highest average live body weight of 3170.90 g, and treatment T4 was significantly (P<0.05) in the fourth week and recorded the highest rate of weight gain. Also, treatment T1 in the first week recorded the highest rate of feed consumption, treatment T2 in the first week recorded the highest efficiency of food conversion, and treatment T3 significantly (P<0.05) and recorded the highest rate of productive evidence. Keywords: broiler, artichoke leaf extract, productive traits