Haematobiochemical indices of broiler chickens fed probiotic supplemented shea kernel cake meal based diet

A 49-day experiment was conducted with a total of 240 Arbor acre broiler chicks, to determine the effect of probiotic supplementation on graded levels of shea kernel cake meal (SKCM) on their haematological and serum biochemical indices. The birds were randomly grouped into four dietary treatments comprising of 0%, 5%, 10% and 15% inclusion levels of SKCM as T1 , T2 , T3 and T4 respectively in a completely randomized design having 5 replicates with 12 chicks each. Diet T1 served as the control, without SKCM and probiotic addition, while diet T2 , T3 and T4 were supplemented with 0.5g/kg Biovet-YC® at both starter and finisher phases. Feed and water were given ad-libitum and routine management were strictly observed. At the end of the feeding trial, three broilers per replicate were randomly selected and blood collected using hypodermal syringe into two different labeled bottles with or without an anti-coagulant (EDTA) for haematology and serum biochemistry investigation respectively. The results showed that there were significant (P<0.05) increase in the white blood cell count and corresponding decrease (p<0.05) in serum triglyceride and cholesterol concentration of birds fed probiotic supplemented SNCM diets. However, other blood parameters measured were not affected (p>0.05) by the probiotic supplementation. Therefore, it can be concluded that incorporation of probiotic supplemented SKCM up to 15% inclusion level did not have any deleterious impact on blood status of the broiler chickens