Effect of moringa (Moringa oleifera) leaves powder supplementation on growth performance of Sonali poultry birds

Introduction

Poultry production is an important source of animal protein and livelihood, while feed cost remains one of the major expenses in poultry production. Therefore, improving growth performance is essential for profitable poultry production. Moringa (Moringa oleifera) is a nutritionally rich plant containing protein, minerals, vitamins and various bioactive compounds. Moringa leaves powder has therefore attracted attention as a natural feed supplement for improving poultry performance and nutrient utilization. Several studies have reported beneficial effects of Moringa supplementation on feed intake, feed conversion and growth performance; however, the response may vary with breed, inclusion level and management conditions. Hence, the present investigation was undertaken to evaluate the effect of different levels of Moringa leaves powder supplementation on growth performance of Sonali poultry birds.

Materials and Methods

Experimental birds and design

The experiment was conducted at the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairy Science, College of Agriculture, Nagpur. A total of 120 day-old Sonali poultry chicks were used for the experiment. The birds were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments under a completely randomized design. Each treatment consisted of 30 birds distributed into three groups consisting of 10 birds each. The experimental feeding period was eight weeks.

Dietary treatments

The experimental treatments were T 1: Basal diet without Moringa leaves powder, T 2: Basal diet + 0.2% Moringa leaves powder, T 3: Basal diet + 0.4% Moringa leaves powder and T 4: Basal diet + 0.6% Moringa leaves powder.

The different inclusion levels of Moringa leaves powder were selected to assess their effect on feed utilization and growth performance of Sonali poultry birds.

Results and Discussion

Growth performance 3.1.1 Live body weight

Live body weight increased progressively from day-old age to the eighth week in all treatment groups. The initial body weights were 35.49, 36.37, 35.86 and 35.35 g/bird in T 1 , T 2 , T 3 and T 4 , respectively. The treatment groups were statistically comparable at the beginning of the experiment. From the above table weight were observed among treatments during the experimental period. T 2 consistently maintained the highest live body weight from the early growth stages and recorded the highest body weight of 960.50 g/bird at the eighth week. T 3 and T 4 recorded 935.21 and 915.86 g/bird, respectively, whereas T 1 recorded the lowest final body weight of 865.41 g/bird. The higher body weight observed in T 2 suggests that 0.2% Moringa leaves powder was more effective than the other tested inclusion levels under the conditions of the present study. The improvement may be associated with the nutritional constituents and bioactive compounds of Moringa leaves, which may support nutrient utilization and growth. The present findings agreed with Agashe et al. (2017) [1] , Khan et al. (2017) [4] , Sarker et al. (2017) [14] , Kumar et al. (2018) [5] , Murali et al. (2020) [11] , Meel and Sharma (2021) [8] and Madavi et al. (2021) [7] , who reported improved body weight following Moringa supplementation. The consistently higher body weight gain in T 2 corresponded with its higher final live body weight. This indicates that supplementation with Moringa leaves powder at 0.2% supported better growth throughout the experimental period. The findings are in agreement with Agashe et al. (2017) [1] , Khan et al. (2017) [4] , Khalid et al.

(2021) [3] and Madavi et al. (2021) [7] , who reported improved body weight gain following Moringa supplementation. The overall feed consumption during the experimental period was highest in T 2 , followed by T 3 , T 4 and T 1 . The higher feed consumption in T 2 may be associated with improved feed acceptability and increased nutrient requirements corresponding to the greater growth rate of birds. The progressive increase in feed consumption with age was common to all treatments and reflected the increasing nutrient requirement of growing birds. The present findings are in agreement with Kumar et al. (2018) [5] , who observed higher feed intake in Moringasupplemented Vanaraja birds. Madavi et al. (2021) [7] also reported improved feed intake following supplementation with drumstick leaf powder. Nantapo et al. (2024) [12] reported that Moringa supplementation improved feed efficiency and overall growth performance. However, responses to Moringa supplementation may vary depending upon inclusion level, bird breed, age, form of Moringa supplementation, basal diet and environmental conditions. [1] , Alshukri et al. (2018) [2] , Latif et al.

Feed consumption

Feed conversion ratio

(2019) [6] , Madavi et al. (2021) [7] and Meel and Sharma (2021) [8] , who reported improved feed conversion efficiency at suitable Moringa inclusion levels.

Conclusion

Based on the results of the present investigation, dietary supplementation of Moringa oleifera leaves powder positively influenced growth performance of Sonali poultry birds. Among the tested treatments, T 2 containing 0.2% Moringa oleifera leaves powder was found to be the most effective treatment. It recorded the highest live body weight, body weight gain and feed consumption with the lowest and therefore best feed conversion ratio. At eight weeks of age, T 2 recorded 960.50 g/bird live body weight, 924.13 g/bird cumulative body weight gain, 2004.85 g/bird cumulative feed consumption and an overall FCR of 2.16. Therefore, under the conditions of the present experiment, supplementation of Moringa oleifera leaves powder at 0.2% of the diet may be considered beneficial for improving feed utilization and growth performance of Sonali poultry birds.

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