Effect of coconut husk extract on broiler chicken performance, pH and microbial composition of digesta, and small intestine histomorphology

Plants that contain a large number of bioactive substances have been used as alternative phytobi-otic additives. The objectives of the current study were to investigate the efficacy of coconut husk ex-tract on broiler performance, ileal digesta characteristic and small intestine morphology. Two hundred and fifty day-old-chicks (DOC) were randomly placed in five treatment groups with five replicates each, and the chickens were reared until six weeks old. Basal ration was hand mixed to ensure the re-quirements in the starter period and finisher period. Treatments were basal ration only (TCT-), basal ration with 40 ppm tetracycline (TCT+), basal ration with 100 ppm coconut husk extract (T100), basal ration with 400 ppm coconut husk extract (T400) and basal ration with 700 ppm coconut husk extract (T700). The variables included feed intake, live weight gain (LWG), feed to gain ratio (FCR), breast meat quality, pH and microbial composition of digesta and small intestine morphology. Data were sta-tistically analyzed using analysis of variances and comparison test using the Duncan’s multiple range test. The results demonstrated that the feed additives significantly increased feed intake, LWG, breast meat protein content, villi height in the ileum, and the height:crypt depth ratio in the duodenum and ileum, and significantly decreased the abundance of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus and the pH of digesta (P<0.05). Therefore, coconut husk extract could be applied as a phytobiotic feed ad-ditive for broiler chickens to stimulate the growth of broilers, suppress colonies of harmful bacteria in the small intestine and enhance the improvement of intestinal morphology.