Effects of adding herbal powders to diets containing Tra catfish (Pangasius hypophthalmus) by-products on performance and health status of local chickens

Nguyen Thi Thuy

College of Agriculture, CanTho University, Campus II, 3/2 Street, Ninh Kieu District, CanTho City, Viet Nam.
nthithuycn@ctu.edu.vn

Abstract

An experiment was carried out to determine the effect of catfish by-product meal (CB) base diet with inclusion of some herbal powder: Turmeric (T), ginger (G) or garlic (GA) in the diets on feed intake, growth performance and health status of local chickens in a confine house system. A total of 300 Noi chickens (female) at 5 weeks of age were randomly allocated into five dietary treatments, each with three replicates of 20 chicks/replicate (n = 60). Treatments were: (1) FM: Basal feed ingredients (B) + marine fish meal (control); (2) CM: B + CB; (3) CMT: CM + turmeric; (4) CMG: CM + ginger; (5) CMGA: CM + garlic at 3g/kg feed for all supplements. The feeding experiment was carried out for 11 weeks’ experiment (5-15 weeks age). The different parameters measured included: Feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion ratio, bacteria density in chicken feces, morbidity and mortality rate. Results showed that: Feed intake (ADFI) of the experimental birds in all groups was not significant different. Average daily gain (ADG) was found to be significantly (p<0.05) higher in ginger (CMG) and garlic (CMGA) supplemented diets as compare to turmeric (CMT) and non-supplemented group (FM and CM). Feed conversion ratio (FCR) was significantly (p<0.05) lower in the CMG and CMGA groups as compare to other groups. Lactobacilli and Salmonella.spp were not detected in chicken feces neither at 6^th nor 10^th weeks age. But Clostridium perfringens and E.coli density were reduced in all supplemented treatments to compare with that in non-supplemented diets, in which E.coli density was lowest in chickens fed CMGA. So the lowest morbidity and mortality were in CMGA (13.3% and 6.7) to compare with FM (22.2 and 15.5%). It is concluded that there was an improvement in growth rate and feed conversion ratio, linked with a reduction in pathogenic bacteria (E.coli and Clostridium perfringens), and morbidity, mortality when chickens were supplemented with garlic, ginger and turmeric herbal powder.

Key words: herbal powder, turmeric, ginger, garlic, local chicken, Tra catfish by-product meal

Introduction

Chicken production is an important economic activity in the Mekong Delta of Viet Nam. In large and small scale raising chicken systems, the birds are usually confined and fed commercial feed, which may contain antibiotics and growth promoting substances or some chemical feed additive to improve yellow color of skin and york color. However, the world tendency is that animal producers should minimize and preferably stop using antibiotics as dietary supplements (Sheikh et al 2011). In Vietnam, the using of antibiotics has been banned to supplement in animal feed as a growth stimulant, and will not be used to prevent animal diseases from 2020 (Department of Livestock Production 2017). So, many researchers are looking for a natural product as a reducing classical antibiotic and feed additive used in poultry nutrition, in which herbal plants are consider a possible alternative to antibiotics on growth promotion and improvement of feed efficiency in poultry (Won Kan 2012). Because, herbal plants are used to improve health conditions by the establishment of an ideal microbial population in animal’s digestive tract, dietary feeding of essential oil from herbs improved the secretion of digestive enzymes, therefore improved the digestibility of the feeds (Eltazi 2014). And the use of herbs in chicken diet is not important only for the health of the animals, but also for the improvement of meat quality.

Recent research works on herbal formulations as feed additive have shown good results with regards to weight gain and feed efficiency, lowered mortality in poultry birds (Mishra and Singh 2000, Deepaket al 2002, Jahan et al 2008). Similarly, many herbal plants such as garlic, ginger or turmeric can be potential alternatives for common artificial growth promoters like antibiotics. Turmeric, ginger and garlic are medicinal plants and perennial herb, it should be tested as local natural feed additive for replacement commercial one in small scale poultry production system from householder. In addition, Tra catfish production has increased dramatically and as local alternative feed for poultry in the Mekong Delta, with the major exports of fish fillets to many countries, there are abundant by-products accounting for 60-65% of the weight of the whole fish of the abundant residues, these by-products are input materials for processing into catfish by-product meal (Nguyen Thi Thuy et al 2007). There are some researches have been carried out on using catfish by-product meal for chickens and pigs, which have not very high nutritional value, lower protein quality than that from marine fishmeal sources. Therefore, the present study aimed to improve the quality of diet for chickens by the combination of catfish by-product meal base diet with some herbal powder (turmeric, ginger and garlic) in order to improve health status and performance of chickens without using commercial and chemical feed additive.

Materials and methods

Location, infrastructure and experimental birds

The experiment was conducted during a period of 11 weeks in a small farm at Long Hoa Ward, BinhThuy district, Can Tho city, located in the Mekong Delta in the south of Vietnam.The experiment was conducted from July to October 2018. Noi chickens (female) were raised in an confine house with 15 pens (each 2 x 1.5m) separated by netting, 20 birds/pen. Feed and water were provided continuously from feeders and drinkers. Prior to starting the experiment, the chickens were vaccinated against common diseases (Gumboro, H₅N₁ and fowl pox).

Basal diet and supplements

The experimental diets consisted of the basal feed ingredients in table 1

Basal feed ingredients include maize meal, rice bran, broken rice, soya meal, bone and shellfish meal and vitamin premix. The experimental diets (basal diets) were formulated to satisfy nutritional requirements (NRC 1994) of chickens from 5 to 9 and 10 to 15 weeks of age (Tables 1). They contained 60% of the dietary protein from the basal feed ingredients and 40% from marine fish meal in the control diet (FM) or Tra catfish by-product meal (CM) in the others. The basal diet (CM) was supplemented with turmeric, ginger or garlic powders at 3g/kg feed. Turmeric, ginger and garlic powder were prepared one before starting the experiment. These roots were cleaned and cut into smaller pieces and dried sufficiently in the sunlight to remove moisture content. After drying, required amount of turmeric, ginger and garlic were prepared by fine grinding to make powder form. Then these were mixed into the feeds every 3 days and fed continuously for 11 weeks.

Treatments were:

1/ Fish meal (FM)
2/ Catfish by-product meal (CM)
3/ CM + Turmeric (CMT)
4/ CM + Ginger (CMG)
5/ CM + Garlic (CMGA)

Procedure and measurements

The birds were weighed (all 20 chickens in each pen) every week in the morning, before feeding and watering. Feed and water were offered ad libitum. Feed intake was calculated by measuring the amount of feed offered and residue left over after 24 h. Feed conversion ratio was calculated by dividing the feed intake by weight gain. Vaccination and other biosecurity routine poultry management practices were carried out carefully. The measurements were growth rate, DM feed intake, feed conversion ratio, morbidity, mortality and bacteria in feces.

Feces sampling

Fecal samples were collected 2 times at 6^th and 10^th weeks of age, when basal diet was changed.The levels of Lactobacillus, Salmonella. spp, E. coli and Clostridium perfringens in fecal samples were determined by the colony counting method. Fecal samples were directly collected at cloaca of 5-6 chickens/pen (about 70g feces/bag) and stored in cold storage. After that, homogenous fecal samples were transferred to the Biology Laboratory of Analysis Service Center in Can Tho city for counting the colony.

Analysis methods

The chemical composition of feed and herbal powder was determined using the methods of AOAC (1990). Crude protein was determined by the Kjeldahl method. Total ash was the residue after ashing the samples at 550 ^oC, and the ether extract (EE) was determined by Soxhlet extraction. Bacteria density in feces were tested at the Biology Laboratory according to specific methods: E. coli (Quantitative) was analyzed according to ISO-16649-2-2001; Clostridium perfringens (Quantitative) by ISO 7937: 2004; Salmonella.spp (Qualitative) by ISO-6579-1: 2017; and Lactobacillus (Quantitative) by TCVN 8737: 2011

Statistical analysis

Data were analyzed using the General Linear Model (GLM) of the ANOVA program in the Minitab (2016) Software. Tukey pair-wise comparisons were used to determine differences between treatment means at p <0.05.

Results and discussion

Feed intake and growth performance

The diet supplied with marine fish meal or catfish by-product meal without any additive supplementation showed almost similar performance results. However, supplementation of turmeric, ginger or garlic in the catfish by-product base diet improved growth rate and feed conversion but not with feed intake (Table 3).The highest weight gain was attained in garlic supplemented diet. Garlic is one of the most recognized plant species used for organic poultry production in Vietnam, because garlic can prevent and treat many diseases and is broadly dispersed and consumed as a spice and herbal medicine for thousands of years, garlic is a bulbous perennial herb, closely related to the onion. Reuter et al (1996) reported that garlic as a plant possessing antibiotic, antioxidant, immune modulator, anti-inflammatory. And Hosseini-Vashan et al (2012) reported the improvement in weight gain of experimental birds fed with garlic powder may be due to the action of compounds like allicin and oregano sulfur compound responsible for inhibition of pathogenic bacteria and fungi results into the improved gut environment.

Ginger and turmeric also have positive effect on ADG and FCR of chickens. The results are in agreement with Kafi et al (2017), who reported that ginger powder in the broiler’s diets had a significant positive effect on growth rate, it might be due to the active components present in the ginger which stimulates digestive enzymes and improves overall digestion and thus leads to increased body weight gain. The positive effect on gastric secretion, enterokinesia and digestive enzyme activities in ginger such as two types of digestive enzymes protease and lipase, which are present as part of the plants natural protective mechanisms. In fact, Iqbal et al (2001) also shows that ginger has ability to increase the digestive and absorptive capacity of the small intestine of chickens by increasing the cryptal depth as well as the absorptive surface area of the intestine such as villi length and width, which results in higher body weight gain and lower FCR of chickens. In another hand, turmeric powder is a bioactive compound of curcumin and rich in fiber, iron, potassium, magnesium and vitamin B6, it has been used in coloring or medicine in beauty products. The main component of the turmeric is a volatile oil, containing turmerone, and there are other coloring agents called curcuminoids in turmeric (Shiyou Li et al 2011). These above benefit could be attributed to the fact that herbal plant may provide some compounds that enhance digestion.

Intestinal microflora

Lactobacillus and Salmonella.spp were almost undetectable in chicken feces at both 6^th and 10^th weeks age (Table 4). However, E. coli and Clostridium perfringens are quite high in chicken feces, especially at 10^th weeks of age higher than that at 6^th weeks of age.

Among these bacteria, Lactobacillus is beneficial bacteria but Salmonella.spp, E. coli and Clostridium Perfringens are potentially pathogenic bacteria (Yesilbag and Coplan 2006). Because bacteria accounts for around 90% of the microflora in the intestine, which made stability and balance microflora, and have a great impact on animal health. Normally, the beneficial microflora is much higher than harmful microflora, when the rate of harmful bacteria increases, then the increase susceptibility to some diseases, especially gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases. It is possible to change the number of intestinal bacteria, as well as the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut of the chicken by feeding (Adil and Magray 2012). Thus, when supplementation with garlic, ginger or turmeric at 3 g/kg feed reduced E. coli and Clostridium in the gastrointestinal tract of the chickens. Ali et al (2008) showed that ginger in the diets stimulate lactic acid bacteria and decreases pathogenic bacteria such as mesophilic aerobic, coliform and E. coli and thus improves absorption of nutrients leads to better weight gain of the birds. Garlic also have the major phytogenic compound called allicin, this compound is derived from naturally occurring amino acid allin which is transformed into allicin by the enzyme allinase, and can improve chicken health (Gardzielewska et al 2003). The active ingredients found in turmeric are curcumin, demethoxycurcumin, bisdemethoxycurcumin (Wuthi-Udomler et al 2000) and anti- oxidative value (Osawa et al 1995). The dietary turmeric lowers lipid peroxidation by enhancing the activities of antioxidant enzymes, also it has been reported that tumeric may help to prevent antioxidant deficiency with resulting protection of mitochondria against premature oxidative. These natural additives has prevented the development of harmful microorganisms in the intestines, leading to increased digestibility of chickens, reduced morbidity and mortality (Fatufe and Matanmi 2011).

The mortality rate of the experimental chickens was high, this mortality corresponds to the number of diseases chickens in the treatments, almost chickens died mainly due to some diseases such as coccidiosis, E. coli and respiratory. It may be because chickens were raised in open house, be affected by changing of weather and no antibiotic supplied in the diets, and these natural additive supplementations in the diet inhibit the pathogenicity of harmful bacteria, enhance immunity and reduce poultry mortality.

Conclusions

• The diet supplied with marine fish meal or catfish by-product meal without any herbal additive supplementation showed almost similar performance results
  
  
• Ginger and garlic supplementations was superior in comparison to turmeric and without any supplementation in catfish by-product meal base diet in term of growth performance and feed conversion ratio.
  
  
• When added at the rate of 3g/kg feed of ginger, garlic or turmeric decreased density of E.coli and Clostridium perfringens in the chicken feces and reduced mortality and morbidity of local chickens.

Acknowledgements

Financial support from the Sida-financed project, MEKARN II, is gratefully acknowledged. Sincere thanks to Mrs. Tuyen; Mr. Manh and Ms. Hoa for taking care the chickens and for facilitating the conduct of the experiment.

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Received 5 March 2019; Accepted 11 March 2019; Published 1 April 2019

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