Effect of citric acid, herbal feed additive and their combination on the performance of broiler

The experiment was conducted with 108 day old straight-run Hubbard Classic broiler chicks for a period of 35 days to investigate the effects of citric acid, commercial herbal additive (Keqinling) and their combination on growth and carcass traits of broiler. The dietary treatments were control (T 0 ), 0.5% citric acid (T 1 ), 0.2% Keqinling (T 2 ) and combination of 0.5% citric acid +0.2% Keqinling (T 3 ).  Final live weight was 1615, 1710, 1707 and 1795g in control, 0.5% citric acid, 0.2% Keqinling and their combination groups respectively. The highest live weight gain (1748g) was found in combination group followed by 0.5% citric acid (1664g), 0.2% Keqinling (1660g), and the lowest (1568g)in control group. The highest feed consumption and feed conversion efficiency was observed in T 3 and the lowest in group T 0 . Significantly (p<0.05) the highest dressed yield (%) was found in 0.5% citric acid group (56.65) than combination (55.73) and Keqinling (55.18) and lowest in control group (54.59). Citric acid reduced the pH of the both feed and faces. The cost of production (Tk/kg broiler) was lowest in citric acid group (Tk. 76.22). Net profit per broiler production was found in 0.5% citric acid group (Tk. 10.03/broiler) followed by combination (Tk. 9.28), Keqinling (Tk. 7.31) and control group (Tk. 6.98) respectively. The addition of 0.5% citric acid and 0.2% Keqinling individually or their combination increase the performance of broiler but citric acid showed better response than Keqinling. Bang. J. Anim. Sci. 2015. 44 (3): 143-150