EFFECT OF PROBIOTICS ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF NOILER CHICKS

Abstract

A six week feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effect of probiotic on growth

performance of Noiler chicks. Three hundred and twenty (320) day old Noiler chicks were acquired from Amo farm Sieberer hatchery limited in Awe, Oyo State for this experiment. The chicks were randomly distributed into four experimental treatments with four replicates of twenty birds each. Experimental treatments consisted of probiotics at three inclusion rates (0.25g, 0.5g, 1.0g) per 1kg of feed respectively. The experiment commenced on the bird‘s arrival and the chicks were placed on the diets for a period of six weeks representing the chick phase. Results of the experiment showed that there were significant (P<0.05) differences in final weight gain, weight gain, daily weight gain, total feed intake, daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio. Birds fed with diet supplemented with probiotic at 1.00g/1kg feed (T4) had the highest average final weight of 889.43g, weight gain of 855.73g, and the best feed conversion value of 2.12 while the control (T1) had the least final weight gain of 536.94g and weight gain of 503.94g. The study indicated that dietary inclusion of probiotic at the rate of 0.1% of the diet supported a superior performance of Noiler chicks as a natural growth promoter in Noiler diet