Abstract

Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the inclusion of bamboo leaf meal (BLM) in broiler chicken feed to alleviate heat stress.
Materials and Methods: This investigation was conducted following institutional policies guiding the handling of animals as approved for scientific research. 150 heat-stressed Arbor Acres broiler chickens were divided randomly into five dietary treatments, T1–T5, of 30 per treatment and 10 per replicate, to determine the consequence of feeding BLM on health and performance. Birds in T1–T4 were fed 0%, 1%, 1.5%, and 2% BLM-included diets, respectively, while T5 had a 0.2% vitamin C-included diet.
Results: Increasing dietary BLM positively impacted body weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion rate (FCR), and stress indices levels. Broiler chickens had better feed intake (267 gm), weight gain (1,504 gm), and FCR (3.64) in T4. Serum glutathione peroxidase and malondialdehyde levels were not statistically different with increasing dietary BLM, while corticosterone levels were lower for chickens fed with dietary BLM. The superoxide dismutase index levels did not follow a particular pattern as dietary BLM increased. The hematology, carcass, and organ quality were unaffected by dietary BLM inclusion.
Conclusion: BLM inclusions up to 2% in the broiler diet ameliorate heat stress conditions and improve performance without imposing any detrimental impact on the birds.

Key words: Stress indices; broiler chicken; leaf meal; hematology; serum; Bambusa vulgaris