Response of Starter Broiler Birds Administered with Costus afer Extract

Background and Objective: Extracts of plant leaves, stems and roots are now been used in poultry production as growth promotants and additives. This is a result of the negative impact created by synthetic ones over the decades. Thus, the focus of this research work is to determine the response of starter broiler birds administered with Costus afer extract. Materials and Methods: A total number of one hundred and twenty (120) 7-day old ‘Abor acre’ broiler chicks were divided into four groups of 30 birds each. Each group was replicated three times with 10 birds per replicate. The birds were randomly assigned to 0, 5, 10 and 15 mL of homogenous Costus afer leaf and stem extracts per liter of drinking water in a completely randomized design (CRD) experiment. The groups were labeled with T₁ (control), T₂, T₃ and T₄, respectively. Proximate analysis of the commercial feed and Costus afer leaf and stem were carried out. The birds were managed under the same experimental conditions for 56 days. Data collected were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and significantly different means were separated according to the method of Duncan’s multiple range test at a 5% significant level. Results: Results obtained showed that superior (p<0.05) values for final body weight, body weight gain and feed conversion ratio were obtained in treatment 4 with values of 753.33 g, 641.33 g and 1.71 g, respectively. Serum mineral had values that were not significantly (p<0.05) influenced by calcium, phosphorus, sodium and chloride, while potassium had values that differed (p<0.05) across the treatment group with the highest (p<0.05) value of 4.14 meq/L in treatment 4, while the lowest value of 3.25 meq/L was seen in treatment 3. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the extract of Costus afer can be given to broiler starter birds up to the level of 15 mL/L of water which can lead to better growth and development as observed in treatments administered with the extract, with the best performance seen in treatment 4.