Comparative study between Isa Brown and Fulani ecotype chickens supplemented with humic acid

Abstract

A 32 week study was carried out to determine the influence of humic acid supplementation on the growth, production and egg qualities of ISA Brown and Fulani ecotype chickens. One hundred and eighty day old chicks of 90 each of ISA Brown and Fulani ecotype were randomly distributed in a 2x3 factorial arrangement of these breeds (ISA Brown and Fulani ecotype chickens) and three treatment groups 1) control with no humic acid supplementation, 2) supplementation with 1 ml.L-1 humic acid and 3) 2 ml.L-1 humic acid in drinking water. The six groups were replicated thrice with 10 chicks in each replicate. Humic acid supplementation (p < 0.05) increased body weight, improved feed conversion ratio, reduced mortality, increased hen-day production and egg weight in both ISA Brown and Fulani ecotype chickens (FEC). Feed intake (p < 0.05) increased in ISA Brown chickens with humic acid supplementation, while it decreased in Fulani ecotype chickens at eight weeks of age. At 20 weeks of age, both breeds consumed (p < 0.05) less feed with humic acid supplementation. pH of the different segments of gastrointestinal tract was (p < 0.05) lowered by humic acid supplementation. Shell thickness was significantly (p < 0.05) increased at 2 ml.L-1 humic acid supplementation level in ISA Brown and FEC with ISA Brown groups having (p < 0.05) thicker shells when compared with FEC. High density lipoprotein (p < 0.05) increased across the treatment groups in ISA Brown, while these values (p < 0.05) decreased in ISA Brown groups supplemented with humic acid. Low density lipoprotein (p < 0.05) increased with humic acid supplementation in ISA Brown and FEC. The results of the present study indicated that the use of humic acid at 1 ml.L-1 improved the body weight gain, overall feed intake and hen-day production in ISA Brown and Fulani ecotype chickens. However, better nutrient utilization was observed in Fulani ecotype chickens when compared with ISA Brown chickens.