Evaluation of Carcass, Growth Performance, Hematological and Biochemical Parameters of Broiler Chickens Fed Additive of Onion Bulb Peel Powder

The study evaluated the effect of the powder of onion bulb peel waste (Allium cepa) as feed additives on growth performance, blood profile and carcass features of broiler chickens. A total of 150-day old Arbo acre strains of broiler chicks were randomly allocated into five treatments group with 30 birds in each treatment with three replicates of 10 birds each. The birds were reared on the floor of a pen partitioned into experimental units. The study was conducted in two phases; starter phase (0-28 day) and finisher phase (28-56 day). A basal experimental diet was formulated for the broiler chickens and varying levels of onion bulb peel powder was added as a supplement at 0mg/kg (control), 25mg/kg, 50mg/kg, 75mg/kg and 100mg/kg in diets 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively. Feed and water were provided ad libitum. The results obtained in this study revealed that there was significant difference (p<0.05) in feed intake, body weight, daily weight gain, feed conversion ratio, hematological and bio-chemical parameters, carcass weight, non-carcass weight, percentage of carcass cut-part relative to the dressed weight and percentage non carcass relative to live weight between treatment diets. Onion bulb peel powder at 100mg/kg enhanced growth performance, reduced total blood cholesterol, triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein, increased the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and improved carcass yield of the birds. Since the feeding of onion bulb peel powder up to 100mg/kg as feed additives did not constitute nutritional disorder or any adverse effect on heamatological parameters of broiler chickens, it can be concluded that onion bulb peel powder at this level of inclusion is good for broiler chicken production.