Introduction The use of herbs in the ration of broiler chicken is fast becoming prominent because they are numerous in the ecosystem and have both nutritional and health benefits. One way to ascertain their level of usage and expression of their inclusion in broiler chicken cut parts is through feeding trial. This study therefore investigates the effects of Justicia carnea and Ocimum gratissimum aqueous extract on carcass characteristics of broiler chicken for six weeks. Materials and Methods Justicia carnea and Occimum grastissium leaves were harvested at Federal Polytechnic Ilaro, Farm. The leaves were removed from the stalk, rinsed with distilled water and weighed. 500g each of the leaves was soaked into 10 litres of water and the process was repeated weekly. The solution was provided to the broiler bird as drinking water. A total of 120-day-old broiler chicks were randomly assigned to four treatment groups of 30 birds each with three replicates of 10 birds namely: Treatment (T)1 (control, synthetic growth promoter), T2(500g of Ocimum gratissimum in 10L),T3(500gJusticia carnea in 10L) and T4(500g each of Justicia carnea and Occimun gratissimum in 10L). On the 56th day of the experiment, two birds from each replicate were selected, fasted for 12 hours and after wards slaughtered. Their cut parts were carefully separated, measured (using camry® sensitive scale) and their weights are expressed as a percentage of the live weight. The data was then subjected to one way analysis of variance using statistical package for social scientist. Result and Discussion The result revealed no significant differences in the parameters except for liver weight, where T1 had the highest value of 2.38 g (p<0.05). T4 had the highest numerical value (P>0.05) of live weight and dressed weight while T3 had the highest numerical value (P>0.05) of thigh (11.42 g), drum stick (10.79 g), wing (9.24 g), heart (0.51 g) and back (13.6 g) respectively. Conclusion The findings suggest that Justicia carnea and Ocimum gratissimum aqueous extracts can compete favorably with synthetic growth promoters to improving feed efficiency and values of economic cut parts of broiler chicken. Keyword: broiler chicken, herbs, water.
Sangosina M. I., Akinlade O. O.