Document Type : Articles
Authors
1 Animal Production Department, College of Agriculture, University of Basrah, Iraq
2 Animal Production Department, College of Agriculture, University of Basrah, Iraq.
Abstract
The study aimed to assess the effects of adding an alcoholic extract of Eruca sativa seeds and lead acetate to drinking water on the productive and physiological performance of broiler chickens. A total of 144 one-day-old Ross 308 broiler chicks were used, divided into four treatments of 36 birds each, with three replicates per treatment. The control treatment received no additives, while the second treatment received 350 mg/L of lead acetate. The third treatment received 250 mg/L of Eruca sativa seeds extract, and the fourth treatment received a combination of both 350 mg/L lead acetate and 250 mg/L Eruca sativa seeds extract. Results showed that the third treatment had the best results, including higher body weight, final weight gain, cumulative feed consumption, and better feed conversion efficiency. This treatment also had significant (P≤0.05) increases in packed cell volume (PCV), total red blood cell (RBC), and hemoglobin concentration (Hb) compared to other treatments. Additionally, the third treatment had lower heterophil percentages and a more positive lymphocyte percentage and heterophil to lymphocyte (H/L) ratio. The antioxidant enzyme activities, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX), and catalase (CAT) were significantly (P≤0.05) higher in the third treatment, while malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were lower. The study concludes that the alcoholic extract of Eruca sativa seeds effectively reduces lead acetate-induced oxidative stress and enhances both and productive and physiological performance of broiler chickens.
Keywords
)