Reproductive Performance of the Cameroon Kabir Chicken Fed Natural Feed Additives

Plant-based antimicrobial compounds could be used to replace some sub-therapeutic antibiotic growth promoters. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of phytogenic feed additives as potential natural growth promoters, on reproductive performance in Kabir chicken. The study consisted 144 Cameroon Kabirroosters (24) and hens (120), fed diets containing graded levels of garlic, ginger, thyme (0.5% and 1%), euphorbia (0.75% and 1.5%) or moringa (2.5% and 5%) powders, a positive control diet with a commercial antibiotic and a negative control diet without any additive. The study utilized a complete randomized design. Feed and water were provided ad libitum. Zootechnical performances and egg characteristics were recorded until 3 months post-lay. Ginger treatments negatively affected egg production significantly (P<0.001), while the euphorbia treatments drastically affected (P<0.001) feed conversion during the laying period. The yolk colour score ranged from 7-11 and was not influenced by additives (P>0.05). Fertility (74%) and hatchability (<57%) rates were poor and not treatment related (P>0.05). Embryonic mortality was high (63%) and was among other factors affected by increasing levels of additives. Chick body weight at hatching was greatly improved by thyme at the 1.0% level of inclusion. The implications of such findings are discussed. Keywords: feed additive, antibiotic, growth promoter, performance, Kabir chicken