Replacing bacitracin methylene disalicylate by crushed Nigella sativa seeds in broiler rations and its effects on growth, blood constituents and immunity

The effect of using crushed Nigella sativa seeds (NSS) as a natural growth promoter instead of the antibiotic growth promoter bacitracin methylene disalicylate (BMD) in broiler rations that contain one of two types of anticoccidials (either lasalocid Na or 3-nitro) on growth performance, blood constituents and some selected antibody titers was studied. An experiment was conducted on five dietary groups with two different growth promoter's supplementation from one to 42 days of age. The statistical findings of this experiment prove that replacing BMD by crushed NSS significantly improve growth performance. The serum levels of cholesterol, triglyceride were significantly decreased, while, high density lipoprotein (HDL) was significantly increased. Concerning the findings that pertain to immunity, antibody titer against Newcastle and infectious bursal diseases were significantly improved by replacing BMD by crushed NSS, but no significant effects were noticed in antibody titer against infectious bronchitis. In conclusion, from the results of the current study it could be speculated that crushed NSS could be of value to replace BMD in broiler diets. Further studies must be performed to detect the proper level of NSS before field application. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.