Blood profile of broiler chickens fed supplemented garlic-based diets

Conventional supplements have been criticised for their potential negative impact on the food chain. Poultry researchers and nutritionists have  been searching for viable alternative feed additives. Poultry production is still facing challenges of diseases and a lot of research are still on going. This study was carried out to investigate the effects of garlic (Allium sativum) supplementation on the blood profile of broiler chicken. One hundred  and fifty-day old Marshal strains of broiler chicken were assigned to five dietary treatments with thirty birds in a Completely Randomized Design. The thirty chicks were subdivided into three replicates of 10 birds each. Feed and water were offered ad libitum and mortality was recorded as it occurred. Blood were collected from two birds per replicate to determine haematological and serum biochemical responses. No significant (p>0.05)  difference was observed in the haematological response and serum biochemistry profile of broilers fed experimental diets, with the exception of the Cholesterol level which significantly (p<0.05) decreased as the level of inclusion of the garlic increased, with the control diet having the highest value (135.38mg/dL) while the least value (129.80mg/dL) was obtained from diets containing 0.8% inclusion of garlic. Therefore, the inclusion of garlic  (Allium sativum) in the diets of broiler chicken had no deleterious effects on the blood profile of the experimental  birds but improved the  cholesterol level of the birds at the inclusion level of 0.4g/ton of feed. Keywords: Marshal, Allium sativum, blood profile, supplementation,   cholesterol, adlibitum