HC Ezejesi¹, FO Obinani¹, JC Okonkwo¹*, KC Oguchienti¹, JN Omumuabuike² and Ezenyilimba Benedethe N¹

¹Department of Animal Science, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria
²Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Uli, Anambra State, Nigeria

*Corresponding Author: JC Okonkwo, Department of Animal Science, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria.

Received: July 24, 2023; Published: August 26, 2023

Abstract

One hundred and twenty-seven days Abor-acre broiler birds were used to determine the effect of neem and papaya leaf extracts on the growth characteristics of broilers. They were randomly assigned to four treatments (T1, T2, T3 and T4) and three replicates of 10 birds per replicate. In T1 (control), conventional vaccines and drugs were administered; in T2, neem leaf extract was used; in T3, pawpaw leaf extract was given and in T4, a mixture of neem and pawpaw leaf extracts was administered through the drinking water. The experiment lasted for seven weeks during which the effect of neem and pawpaw leaf extracts on weight gain, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio were determined. The result showed that there were significant differences (p < 0.05) in the weekly weights T4 (994.55g), FCR T3 (2.74) and feed intake T3 (0.73kg) of broilers administered neem +pawpaw leaf extracts (T4) but there was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in the weight gain T4 (2101.93g). Hence it can be concluded that neem and papaya leaf extracts increased the live body weight and improved the weekly body gain and feed efficiency when compared to that of control. This could be as a result of nutrients that the leaves contain which acts as a natural growth promoter. Also crude fiber and other bioactive compounds such as Tanin, Salanin, Azadirachtin and Limonodois found in Neem leaf could be a contributing factor.

Keywords:Pawpaw Leaf Extracts; Neem Leaf Extract; Neem and Pawpaw Leaf Extract; Abor-Acre Broilers

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Citation

Citation: HC Ezejesi., et al. “Growth Characteristics of Abor-Acre Broilers Administered Neem Leaf (Azadirachta indica) and Pawpaw Leaf (Carica papaya) Extracts". Acta Scientific Agriculture 7.9 (2023): 66-68.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2023 JC Okonkwo., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.