Effects of turmeric addition to broiler starter on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and production economics

The research aimed to assess how feeding broiler chicks’ diets supplemented with turmeric meal affected their growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and production economics. A four-week feeding trial was conducted with 120 unsexed day-old Arbor Acres Plus broiler chicks, which were randomly assigned to four dietary groups, each containing three replicates of ten chicks. The dietary treatments included T1 (control), T2, T3, T4, and T5, with turmeric inclusion levels of 0%, 0.25%, 0.50%, 0.75%, and 1.0%, respectively. Data were gathered on growth performance, nutrient utilization, and production costs. Significant differences (p<0.05) were noted in average daily feed intake (ADFI), ranging from 37.64 to 52.22 g, and feed conversion ratio (FCR), varying from 1.98 to 2.61. However, dietary turmeric did not significantly impact nutrient utilization across the groups. The cost of feed per kilogram increased with higher inclusion levels, while T5 demonstrated the lowest feed cost per chick, as well as for feed cost per weight gain and total production cost. The study concluded that incorporating turmeric up to 1.0% in broiler diets significantly enhanced feed efficiency without adversely affecting nutrient utilization. Thus, using turmeric at this level is a beneficial strategy for optimizing production costs related to feed expenditure per weight gain.