Aloe vera in White Leghorn Layer Diet

Abstract

One hundred and sixty commercial layer birds belonging to a single hatch were wing banded, weighed and randomly allotted into four treatment groups with four replicates of ten birds each. The birds were reared in colony cages with uniform floor, feeder and waterer space and were reared under standard management conditions throughout the experimental period. Treatment groups were T1 - control; T2 - 0.1% aloe vera powder; T3 - 0.1% aloe vera+0.1% turmeric powder and T4 - 0.1% aloe vera and 0.1% probiotic powder. Significantly (P0.05) higher hen housed egg production, feed conversion ratio and return over feed cost were observed T1 when compared to other treatment groups. No significant difference was observed in feed consumption, per cent hen day egg production and per cent broken eggs. It can be concluded that inclusion of 0.1% aloe vera in White Leghorn diet is economical compared to its combination with turmeric and probiotic at 0.1 per cent level.