Comparative effects of different concentrations of garlic (Allium sativum) and ginger (Zingiber Officinale) on growth performance, goblet cell histochemistry and gut microbiota of broilers

The present study investigates comparative effects of different concentrations of garlic (Allium sativum) and ginger (Zingiber Officinale) on growth performance and selected histo-microbial parameters of broilers. A total of 80 one day- old chicks were divided into five different groups with each group having 4 replicates in a trial of 42 days. The first group was kept as control whereas, the second, third, fourth and fifth groups were given garlic 0.25%, garlic 0.5%, ginger 0.25% and ginger 0.5% respectively. At the end of trial all birds were slaughtered for analysis. Results revealed that feed conversion ratio and live body weight were significantly (P < 0.05) improved by garlic 0.5% supplementation compared to other groups. Histo-microbiology revealed that lactic acid bacteria, yeast, acidic goblet cells, mixed goblet cells and total goblet cells increased significantly (P < 0.05) by the dietary supplementations under study. In was concluded that 0.5% garlic supplementation was a better alternate to antibiotic in broilers.