GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND SERUM ENZYMES OF BROILER CHICKENS OEEERED ORAL ADMINISTRATION OF SOLE AQUEOUS LEAF EXTRACTS OF SCENT LEAF AND SIDA ACUTA

The experiment was conducted to evaluate growth performance and serum enzymes of broiler hickens ofered oral administratton of sole aqueous leaf extracts of scent leaf and Sida acuta. The eafCleaves was cleaned with water, air-dried and sundried for l hour and Sida acuta leaves elenned with water and sun-dried for 2 hours daily for 5 davs, A total two hundred and ten 210) unsexed commercial day old broiler chicks from a reputable commercial hatchery. These hinds were divided into five (5) treatment groups and three (3) replicates per treatment. There were fourteen birds in each replicate. The experimental design was completely Randomized Design, There were five treatment groups, namely: administration of 40ml of aqueous leaf extract of scent leaf per litre of drinking water was supplied to broiler in T1. Administration of 80ml of aqueous leaf extract of scent leaf per litre of drinking water was given to broiler in T2. Administration of 30ml of aqueous leaf extract of Sida acuta per litre of drinking water was supplied to broiler T3. Administration of 60ml aqueous of leaf extract of Sida acuta per litre of drinking water was given to broiler in T4. The proximate composition showed that the aqueous extract of scent leaf and Sida acuta had close values for the following parameters; dry matter (90.62% and 90.35%) and ether extract (5.05% and 5.5%) respectively. The crude ptotein content was higher (21.44%) in Sida acuta leaf than that of scent leaf (18.52%). The sole aqueous leaf extract of 60ml/L Sida acuta (T4) had the highest phytate (1 58.55mg/100g), flavonoid (154.3 7mg/100g) tannin (1 1 1.9mg/100g) and Steroid (58.22mg/100g). The highest terpenoid (67.90mg/1 00g) was observed in sole aqueous leaf extract of 30ml/LS. acuta (T3), Higher calcium and phosphorous (436.258 and 783.28mg/L) were present in Sida acuta leaf than those of scent leaf (100.75 and 592.10mg/L respectively). Oral administration of aqueous leaf extracts did not significantly influence growth performance of broiler starter except for feed intake (p-0.002). The best FCR (p-0.059) was obtained in broiler chickens offered 80ml/L aqueous leaf extract of scent leaf. It was concluded that oral administration of sole aqueous leaf extracts significantly improved feed conversion ratio of broiler chickens. It is therefore recommended that aqueous leaf extracts of sole 80ml/L scent leaf should be adopted for broiler production as substitute for antibiotics and coccidiostat.