Journal of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine

A feeding trial was conducted to examine the effects of ginger on growth and electrolyte levels of finisher broiler chickens. A total of 120, day-old chicks of Cobb 500 strain were used for the trial which lasted for 28 days. However, before the commencement of the trial, birds were brooded together for a period of 4 weeks (28 days). At the end of the brooding period, the birds were weighed to obtain their initial body weights (IBW) and were randomly assigned to four dietary treatment groups of 30 birds/treatment with 3 replicates of 10 chicks/replicate arranged in a completely randomized design (CRD). Treatment 1 is the negative control, contained 0 gram of ginger, treatments 2, 3 and 4 contained 400, 600 and 800 grams of ginger / 100 kg diet respectively. Feed intake and weight gain were monitored. At the end of study, nine birds from each treatment group consisting of 3 birds from each replicate were slaughtered and their blood samples were collected in non-ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (non-EDTA) tubes for electrolytes analyses. Electrolytes analyzed were potassium (K⁺), sodium Na⁺), chlorine (cl^-) and bicarbonates (HCO3^-). Data obtained were analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and means were separated via Tukey’s test. There were no significant (p > 0.05) differences in the average daily feed intake (ADFI) among the treatment groups. However, there were significant (p < 0.05) differences in the average daily weight gain (ADWG) and feed efficiency (FE). Broiler birds fed diet containing 800 g ginger /100kg diet had significantly higher ADWG and FE compared to the control group. From the study also, ginger had no significant (p > 0.05) effect on all the electrolytes analyzed. It is therefore concluded that ginger improved ADG and FE but had no effect on ADFI and electrolytes balance of grower-finisher broiler chickens.