Document Type : Articles
Authors
Department of Animal Production, College of Agriculture, Tikrit University, Iraq
Abstract
The main focus of this study to investigate the biological mechanisms by which a (Alcea kurdic) extract impacts chicken productivity and gut microbiome. A total of 225 chicks were randomly allotted to five treatments provided the first as a control (C-1), Levosav as antibiotics (Lo-2), with Aqueous Extract (AE) of Alcea kurdic (AK) at doses 5% (AE-1), 10% (AE-2), and 15% (AE-3) per on drinking water, each treatment contained 3 replicates (15 birds each replicates). The results clarified that there were a significant (p>0.05) changes in performance relative weight between different treatments. In contrast, there was a significant increase in the rate of body weight, body weight gain was observed across all treatments receiving the aqueous extract of hibiscus flowers compared to (C-1), and (Le-2) treatments. For the feed intake and feed conversion the treatments (C-1), and (Lo-2) showed significantly higher feed intake compared with the other treatments 5% (AE-1), 10% (AE-2), and 15% (AE-3). AE treatments had significantly feed conversion than the control (p<0.05). For the microbial population, intestinal total bacteria count was significantly lower in AE treatments compared with the control group (p<0.05), while there were changes in the lactobacilli count between different treatments. Moreover, E. coli were recorded lower in the AE treatments compared with the (C-1), and (Lo-2) treatments.
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