Effect of Turmeric Meal as a Feed Ingredient in the Diets of Poultry Birds

CHAPTER ONE

Objectives

Broad Objective

To determine the performance of poultry birds supplemented with stinging turmeric or whole coriander seed meals as in-feed antibiotic replacers.

Specific Objectives

1. To determine the effects of supplementing different levels of stinging turmeric or whole coriander seed meals on the growth rate of starter
2. To determine the effects of supplementing a blend of stinging turmeric andwhole coriander seed meals on the growth rate of starter
3. To determine the effects of supplementing a blend of stinging turmeric andwhole coriander seed meals on the ileal digestibility of nutrients of starter
4. To determine the effects of supplementing a blend of stinging turmeric and whole coriander seed meals on the dominant ileal bacterial populations of starter

CHAPTER TWO 

LITERATURE REVIEW

 

2.1 Overview of Poultry Production

Recent reports have projected that by the year 2050, the world demand for food will increase by 70 to 100% (Neupane et al., 2022). This will be due to increase in human population growth which is expected to exceed 9 billion (Robinson et al., 2015). Out of this, 8 billion will be found in the developing countries (Mountford and Rapoport, 2016). The high population growth will lead to consumption of greater amounts of meat (Velten et al., 2018). As a result, livestock production especially poultry, will intensify to satisfy the global meat demand (Iskandar et al., 2020). Poultry meat production and consumption has been steadily increasing throughout the world with chicken topping the list (Gunnarsson et al., 2020). The European Union, United States of America, China and Brazil are reported to be the world leaders in poultry production (Hautefeuille et al., 2020). Further, developing countries have been estimated to supply about 53% of the world’s poultry (Moyo and Swanepoel, 2010).

 

Chicken production have been recorded to have lower environmental impacts compared to other meat producing livestock such as pigs and cattle thus their production is projected to increase further in the future (González et al., 2020). Their demand has been attributed to high rates of urbanization, diminishing land sizes and rising disposable incomes that enable buying and consumption of expensive diets like meat (Caekebeke et al., 2020). Advances in genetic enhancements, nutrition, management and disease control has made broiler chickens to be the most intensively grown of all livestock (Alghirani et al., 2021). Modern specialized broiler production utilizes high performing meat type hybrids that have been bred to have high feed conversion factors, growth rates and body conformation (Qaisrani et al., 2020).

 

2.2 Importance of the Poultry Industry in Nigeria

In Nigeria, chicken production is amongst the most successful ventures with a population of about 31 million birds of which 22% are broilers, 75% local chickens, 1% breeding stock and 2% other species of poultry such as geese, ducks, quails and turkeys (Chia et al., 2020; Lindahl et al., 2019). The sector is fundamental in food security, income and contributes 1.7% to the livestock gross domestic product (GDP) (Macharia et al., 2016)

 

which in turn contributes 42% to the national agricultural GDP (Chesoo et al., 2020). Furthermore, about 70% of all the feeds manufactured in the country are meant for poultry production (Njoroge et al., 2015). This makes the industry the most popular and fastest growing of the livestock enterprises. High population growth of major cities and their vicinities including Kisumu, Nakuru and Nairobi has been the stimulus for the current surge in commercial chicken rearing (Korir et al., 2015). Hence farmers are looking for better methods of production and pricing such as contract farming. This arrangement improves on the farmer’s income, production capacity and reduces market risks such as fluctuating prices (Ochieng et al., 2017).

 

Commercial strains of chicken for meat production such as broilers are favoured due to their high growth rates, high feed conversion efficiencies and greater output within a short period of time (Carron et al., 2017). Moreover, limited space requirement makes them easy to rear in an urban setting (Omondi, 2018). Improvements in breeding, nutrition and general management makes them more economically viable (Reverter et al., 2017). Thus most farmers opt for them as they are more profitable than local birds and their demand is rapidly growing (Carron et al., 2018). Chicken meat is the most preferred and consumed amongst the urban and rural families in Nigeria (Carron et al., 2018). This is because it is white meat and highly nutritious especially with high protein content, has low cholesterol is palatable and affordable (Kariuki et al., 2013). Consumption is projected to rise by 300% by the year 2030 (Carron et al., 2017). Besides, the rise in health concerns where people prefer white meat have also contributed to the increased consumption (Omondi, 2018).

Effects of Unregulated Antibiotic Use by Broiler Chicken Farmers in Nigeria Oxytetracyclines and cotrimoxazole are the most popular antibiotics used in broiler production (Kariuki and Dougan, 2014). They are administered through drinking water or as feed additives (Odore et , 2015) for improving performance such as daily gain and feed utilization and for controlling gastrointestinal pathogens (Langata et al., 2019). This ensures the birds achieve maximum market weights within the shortest time possible usually thirty-five days (Otieno and Ogutu, 2019). The uncontrolled use of antibiotics for growing of broilers has been the main reason for increased antibiotic resistance in chickens and consequently, in humans since the drugs are readily available and affordable in agrovets around the country (Mbugua et al., 2014). These problems necessitate the identification of cheap, locally available, safe, effective and nutritious natural growth promoters to substitute the antibiotic growth promoters in formulating home-made rations and commercially manufactured broiler feeds. The ideal alternatives should be able to replace the synthetic preparations without affecting the performance of broiler chickens (Martens et al., 2012).

The Role of Gut Microbes in Chicken Health

The microbiota found in the gastrointestinal tract of chickens are bacteria, protozoa, fungi, virus and archaea with bacteria being the most abundant having over 900 genera of distinct and varied colonies (Pourabedin and Zhao, 2015). The main genera of bacteria found in the ileum are Lactobacillus, Escherichia, Clostridium and Enterococcus (Bindari et al., 2021, Pourabedin and Zhao, 2015). The overall benefit of these microbes to the host animal include promotion of gut health by fighting pathogenic microbes and regulation of natural immunity. This in effect results to improved food digestion, disease resistance and growth (Stanley et al., 2014).

The intestinal bacteria coexist with the host animal through commensal and symbiotic associations. These relationships are vital for the survival of both species through acquisition of nutritional and protective benefits. For example, commensal bacteria protect the host animal from diseases through competitive exclusion of pathogens and foreign bacteria (Pan and Yu, 2014). Bacteria such as Campylobacter, Salmonella and pathogenic coli within a chicken’s gut can proliferate and become pathogenic due to suitable conditions such as lowered host immunity leading to serious zoonotic diseases such as campylobacteriosis, salmonellosis and diarrhoea respectively (Shang et al., 2018). Treatment of the disease involves use of antibiotics such as erythromycin. The drug if misused, can lead to the bacteria becoming resistant making them transmitters of antibiotic resistance to humans who consume undercooked meat from such birds (Shang et al., 2018).

CHAPTER THREE

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Animals, Experimental Model and Housing

Eighty-four mixed sex day old broiler chickens (Cobb 500 strain) were bought from Kenchic Limited Meru depot, Nigeria. The chicks are sold pre-vaccinated against Mareks disease. During the starter phase, young broiler chicks are usually susceptible to diseases such as necrotic enteritis and diarrhoea due to their lowered immunity. Prevention at early stage is critical to safeguard their health which results to improved growth rates, strong immunity and consequently, higher returns to the farmer (Dieryck et al., 2022).

CHAPTER FOUR

EFFECTS OF SUPPLEMENTING A BLEND OF STINGING TURMERIC AND WHOLE CORIANDER SEED MEALS ON THE GROWTH RATE, ILEAL DIGESTIBILITY OF NUTRIENTS AND THE DOMINANT ILEAL BACTERIAL POPULATIONS OF STARTER BROILERS

Introduction

The microorganisms found in the chicken’s gut contribute to their nutritional health and regulation of natural immunity (Biasato et al., 2020). Escherichia coli and Clostridium perfringens are normal flora found in the ileum of broiler chickens which under certain conditions such as stress and lowered immunity, they proliferate causing pathological diseases such diarrhoea and necrotic enteritis (Granstad et al., 2020). These causes huge economic impacts amongst broiler farmers through lowered production and animal deaths (Abd El-Hack et al., 2021). Hence the widespread utilization of antibiotics in animals meant for human consumption to help lower the clinical diseases and to improve production (Oliveira et al., 2020).

Antibiotics are extensively applied in the production of broiler chickens (Blanco and Bautista, 2020). As growth promoters, they have been recorded to mainly act by competitively excluding pathogens from the gut through preventing their adhesion and multiplication on the intestinal walls (Van et al., 2020). This helps maintain the integrity of the intestinal mucosa thereby improving nutrient digestibility and absorption (Pliego et al., 2020). Their sub-therapeutic use has led to development of resistant strains of bacteria through selective pressure of susceptible gut microbes within the affected animals thereby affecting the native bacteria (Alnajrani and Alsager, 2020). Additionally, most antibiotics administered to broiler chickens are poorly broken down in the gut resulting to deposition of antibiotic residues in products such as meat (Muhammad et al., 2020). This has made the drugs ineffective in managing of clinical illnesses in human beings who consume the contaminated products as most groups of antibiotics applied in production of animals are also utilized for human medication (Jafari et al., 2021). This is why their use in food animals is being phased out throughout most countries worldwide (Abd El-Ghany, 2020).

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Summary

The amount of antibiotics used each year in the production of food animals in Nigeria is estimated to be about 14.6 tonnes. Most of these are used at subtherapeutic levels for growth promotion purposes. In the growing of broiler chickens, oxytetracyclines are the most widely applied because they highly affordable, effective and easy to apply through water or feed. Haphazard use and failure to adhere to manufacturer’s recommended withholding periods have resulted to the tissue deposition of antibiotic residues in meat and bones of the broiler chickens leading to spread of resistant strains of bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Campylobacter jejuni among broiler flocks and by extension, to the consumers of products (mainly meat, offals and bones) from such birds. The current surge in consumer food safety concerns in Nigeria have led to broiler chicken consumers rejecting the conventionally produced table birds in favour of organically produced ones. This have led to increased research interests in natural growth promoters such as Turmeric as alternatives to antibiotics in the growing of broiler chickens.

Turmeric are a group of natural growth promoters derived from herbs, spices or other plants. They are incorporated in livestock feed to enhance productivity through the improvement of feed intake, stimulation of digestive secretions, nutrient digestibility and absorption, among other benefits. The feed additives are also locally available, cheap, easy to process and effective. In the current study, stinging turmeric and whole coriander seed meals were used as Turmeric to replace in-feed oxytetracycline in the determination of the performance of poultry birds in terms of GR, ileal nutrient digestibility and the dominant ileal bacterial populations.

The current study consisted of two experiments; the first experiment aimed to get the level of stinging turmeric and whole coriander seed meals with the highest growth rate of poultry birds. Seven diets were prepared as follows: Control (0%), turmeric meal at 1%, 1.5% and 2% and CSM at 0.5%, 1% and 1.5% dietary inclusion levels. From the results of this study, turmeric meal at 1.5% and CSM at 0.5% resulted to the highest GR. For experiment two, the aim was to blend the levels from experiment one with the highest

performance in terms of growth rate in order to investigate the effect of blending the two Turmeric in determining the performance of poultry birds in terms of GR, ileal nutrient digestibility and the dominant ileal bacterial populations. Three diets were utilised; basal diet supplemented with a blend of turmeric meal at 1.5% and CSM at 0.5% inclusion levels (Blend), basal diet supplemented with oxytetracycline hydrochloride powder at the rate of 0.05g/kg of feed (Cox; the positive control) and the Control diet (negative control). From the current study, the application of a blend of turmeric meal at 1.5% dietary inclusion level and CSM at 0.5% dietary inclusion level resulted to improved feed intake, growth rate, feed conversion efficiency, ileal nutrient digestibility of DM, CP and CF; and the populations of beneficial bacteria (Lactobacillus species) in the ileum of poultry birds as compared to diets supplemented with oxytetracycline hydrochloride powder at the rate of 0.05g/kg of feed (positive control) and the basal diet (negative control).

Conclusion

From the results of the research, it can be concluded that: turmeric meal can singly be supplemented in the diets of poultry birds at 1.5% inclusion levels to improve on the FI, GR and FCE. Also, CSM at 0.5% dietary inclusion levels can be singly supplemented in the diets of poultry birds to improve on the FI, GR and FCE. Additionally, supplementing the diets of poultry birds with a phytobiotic blend comprising of turmeric meal at 1.5% dietary inclusion level and CSM at 0.5% dietary inclusion level was reported to be effective in increasing feed intake, growth rate, feed conversion efficiency, ileal nutrient digestibility and the populations of beneficial bacteria (Lactobacillus species) in the ileum. In view of these findings, it was concluded that a blend of stinging nettle leaves and whole coriander seed meals can successfully be used as a replacement for infeed growth promoting oxytetracycline to promote productivity and health of poultry birds, therefore, the use of oxytetracyclines as infeed growth promoter in the growing of poultry birds by Nigerian farmers is unwarranted and unnecessary.

Recommendations

The researcher recommends further study on the following: –

1. The negative effects of either turmeric meal or CSM on nutrient palatability, intake, digestibility and use in poultry birds.
2. The negative effects of blending turmeric meal and CSM on nutrient palatability, intake, digestibility and use in poultry birds.

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