Abstract
An experiment was conducted with 600 one-day-old male broilers (Ross 308) to investigate the effects of Dillaqueous extracts (Anethum graveolens) on blood and growth performance in broiler during a 42-days period. The chickens were divided to four treatments (0, 5, 10 and 20 ml of dill aqueous extracts ...
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An experiment was conducted with 600 one-day-old male broilers (Ross 308) to investigate the effects of Dillaqueous extracts (Anethum graveolens) on blood and growth performance in broiler during a 42-days period. The chickens were divided to four treatments (0, 5, 10 and 20 ml of dill aqueous extracts in drinking water) of five replicates each. Body weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio were measured. At the end of the experiment (day 42), 2 chickens from each replicate were randomly selected and slaughtered. The heart was removed; weights of right and left ventricles were determined separately and ascetic index was calculated. Plasma activity of alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, total antioxidant status (TAS) and Malondialdehyde (MDA) content of plasma were determined. Results showed that 5ml dill aqueous extracts, significantly increased the body weight and reduced the ascetic index, mortality due to ascites and feed conversion ratio (P<0.05). Dill aqueous extracts reduced the plasma glucose level (P<0.05). Dill aqueous extracts at 10 and 20 ml, reduced the plasma triglyceride, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity and increased the plasma HDL (P<0.05). Antioxidant parameters were not significantly affected by treatments. It was concluded that, 5 ml of aqueous extracts of dill could improve the growth performance and reduce the mortality due to ascites in broilers.