The Use of Nigella sativa, Pimpenella anisum and Thymus vulgaris Mixture in Female Broiler Rations

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of feeding crushed Nigella sativa (NS), Pimpinella anisum (PA) and Thymus vulgaris (TV) mixture as a natural growth promoter on growth performance, antibodies titer (Abs) and heamatological profiles of vaccinated and unvaccinated female broilers.

Study Design: A total of 400 one- day old Lohman female broiler chicks were weighed and divided into 4 treatments (4 replicates X 30 chicks each).

Place and Duration of the Study: female broiler chicks were raised in an open-sided house at Animal Research Centre at Jordan University of Science and Technology. The experiment lasted for 42- d of age.

Results: The statistical analysis prove that NS, PA and TV mixture significantly increased live body weight (LBW), body weight gain (BWG) and improved feed conversion ratio (FCR). Moreover, medicinal plants mixture increased Abs production against Newcastle (ND), infectious bronchitis (IB) and infectious bursal (IBD) diseases at 21- and 42- d of age. Meanwhile, 2% crushed NS, PA and TV mixture increased total WBC‘s Monocytes count Heterophils: lymphocytes ratio at 21- and 42- d of age.

Conclusion and Recommendations: In conclusion, our study clearly reveals that crushed NS, PA and TV mixture improves growth performance, Abs of female broilers. Therefore, it could be used as a natural growth promoter. It has been suggested that further studies be done on each active components of the studied medicinal plants.