Abstract
This study comprised two experiments; experiment I determined non-toxic doses of Baobab tree (Adansonia digitata L.) bark extract (BTBE) using white mice, while experiment II investigated the effects of Baobab tree bark extract on growth performance, carcass characteristics, blood profile, gut morphology and intestinal micro-flora of broiler chickens. Forty mice 6 - 8 weeks old, were used in experiment I and grouped to receive intra-peritoneal and oral administration, for 72 hours, of eight different BTBE preparations to determine lethal-dose, effective-dose and low-dose levels for use on broiler chickens in experiment II. Experiment II involved the use of 200 day-old Cobb 500 broiler chicks orally administered BTBE which lasted for 5 weeks. It consisted of five treatment groups (0 (control), 300, 325, 350 and 375 ppm) with 40 birds per treatment and four replicates of 10 birds each in 5 treatment groups in a completely randomized design. Haemoglobin, mean corpuscular haemoglobin, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration, eosinophil, alkaline phosphatase and aspartate aminotransferase activity were significantly (p < 0.05) reduced in mice orally administered BTBE. Also, mean corpuscular volume, alkaline phosphatase and aspartate aminotransferase activity were significantly (p < 0.05) reduced in mice intra-peritoneally administered BTBE. Significantly (p < 0.05) higher feed intake (122.71 g/day) was recorded in broiler chickens on 350 ppm and, at that dosage, total protein, blood glucose and globulin of the birds were reduced (p < 0.05). The study concluded that BTBE can be used as alternative to conventional antibiotics. Therefore, BTBE of 300 ppm was recommended for improved health status and significant growth performance of broiler chickens.
