The study of aloe vera powder effect as feed additive on the performance of broiler

Prolonged use of antibiotic growth promoter (AGP) in poultry ration has resulted in residual effect on poultry products. Therefore, the demand for natural substances that have antibiotic properties to replace AGP is increasing nowadays. Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis Miller) is a nutritious plant and has various biological active compounds that reported have a beneficial effect on broiler chicken. The objective of the research was to determine the best level of dietary Aloe vera supplementation on the performance of broiler chicken. A total of 80 day-old broiler chicks (Cobb) were divided into four treatment groups with four replicates (5 chicks each). All chicks were raised for 42 days in the 16 pen (100 x 100 x 50 cm) equipped with rice hulls as bedding material, a feeder and a drinker. Chickens in the control group were fed with basal feed and for the next three group, chickens were fed with basal feed supplemented with Aloe vera for 0.75, 0.1, and 0.125%, respectively. In general, although there were no significant differences of all performance parameters among treatments found during experiment, chicken from supplemented group have a tendency to consume more feed, grew faster and higher feed efficiency compared to the control group. It seems that, increasing the level of Aloe vera flour in the ration is needed to improve the performance of broilers reared under tropical conditions.