Response of Broiler Chicks to Dietary Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) as Feed Additive

An experiment was carried out to study the response of broiler chicks to dietary cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum), as anatural feed additive, on broiler performance, blood parameters and meat composition. A total of ninety- six one-day old unsexed broiler chicks (Hubbard) were used. The birds were randomly divided in to four equal groups each of 24 birds with four replicates (6 birds /replicate) in acompletely randomized design. Four isonitrogenous and iso-caloric diets were formulated to meet the nutrient requirements of chicks according to the American National Research Council. They were supplemented with four levels of cardamom (0.0%, 0.15%, 0.3% and 0.45%). The feed and water were provided adlibitum. Feed intake and body weight gain were recorded weekly. The results showed that the dietary cardamom supplementation had significantly (P<0.05) increased feed intake and body weight gain. The highest final body weight, carcass weight and dressing percentage were obtained in the birds fed 0.45% cardamom. Moreover, dietary treatment of cardamom had significantly (p<0.05) improved the feed conversion ratio. The treatment had significantly (P<0.05) decreased blood total lipids and glucose, However, there was no significant (P>0.05) effect on the blood total protein. The dietary cardamom had significantly (P