PS6-1. Effects of Dietary Ginger Root Extract on Fecal Indicator Microorganisms and Growth of Broiler Chickens.

Abstract The use of phytogenic feed additives has gained increasing attention as a potential alternative to antibiotic growth promoters in poultry production. Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is widely recognized for its antimicrobial, antioxidant, and stimulatory properties, which may influence both growth performance and gut microbial balance. This study evaluated the effects of dietary ginger root extract (GRE) on growth performance and fecal microbial indicators in broiler chickens. Five hundred day-old broiler chicks (Ross 708, male) were randomly allocated to 5 dietary treatments, each with 5 replicates of 20 birds each in a completely randomized design. All five treatment groups received corn-soybean basal diet throughout the experiment. Control (CON) were fed basal diet with no medication, BMD (basal diet + bacitracin methylene disalicylate 0.055 g/kg diet), GREA (basal diet + 0.75% GRE), GREB (basal diet + 1.5% GRE), and GREC (basal diet + 3% GRE). Body weight Gain (BWG) Feed Intake (FI), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were recorded over the six-week period. On d 35, fecal samples were collected to determine the concentrations of total bacteria count (TBC), Enterococcus sp., Escherichia coli, Lactobacillus spp. and Bifidobacterium spp enumerated using selective plating media. Data were subjected to one-way ANOVA (P < 0.05). For the growth performance indices, birds fed the GREC (2.78kg) had the poorest (P < 0.05) BWG when compared to GREA (3.38 Kg), while the BWG of birds in GREB (3.23 Kg), BMD (3.32 Kg), and CON (3.28 Kg) were in between. Feed intake was lower in GREC (4.67 kg; P < 0.05) compared to other groups (5.18-5.43), while FCR was similar for all treatment groups (P = 0.1195). Concentration of fecal indicator microorganisms revealed that GREB group had a lower TBC (6.06 log CFU/g; P < 0.05) compared to CON (8.66 Log10 CFU/g) and BMD (8.65 log CFU/g) groups, while TBC for GREA (7.63 Log10 CFU/g) and GREC (6.31 Log10 CFU/g) treatments were in between. Furthermore, GRE groups (GREA, GREB, GREC) had higher (P < 0.05) Bifidobacteria counts (6.12, 6.44 and 6.70 log CFU/g, respectively) compared to BMD group (4.89 log CFU/g). These findings indicate that dietary GRE supplementation at up to 1.5% level of the diet promotes BWG and stimulates the growth of Bifidobacteria (a healthy bacteria specie) in the gut of broiler chickens.