The Effect of Bitter Kola (Garcinia Kola Heckel) Powder as Growth Promoter in Broiler Chickens Reared in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

A study of 56 days (8 weeks) was carried out at the poultry section of Rivers State University of Science and Technology Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, Port-Harcourt Rivers State-Nigeria, to determine the effect of bitter kola (Garcinia kola, Heckel) powder as a growth promoter in broiler chickens. One hundred and forty four (144) unsexed day-old Anak strain broiler chicks were subjected to various concentrated levels of bitter kola at T1 (control), T2 (5g/kg), T3 (10g/kg), T4 (15g/kg) respectively following a Completely Randomized Design (CRD), with 36 birds/treatment and 12 birds/replicate. At the end of the study, 3 birds were picked from each treatment, euthanized using chloroform and blood samples were collected for haematological assay. Major organs were excise and weighed, data collection were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Results obtained indicated significant effect (P<0.05) in all the growth and haematological indices measured. Although the best production and haematological indices such as reduced feed intake, improve growth rate, feed conversion ratio, Red Blood Cell, Haemoglobin, Packed Cell Volume and White Blood Cell were recorded in birds administered 15g/kg bitter kola, however all the treated groups presented better results over the control. It was therefore advocated that bitter kola should be included in broiler diets as a feed additive to improve their performance and digestibility.