TY - JOUR AU - UGWU, Patience C. AU - UJU, Chinelo N. AU - ARONU, Chinwe J. AU - MORGAN, Anne AU - SUNDAY, Glory AU - AHAMEFULA, Chinenye AU - IDIGOH, Obinna AU - EZEMA, Chuka PY - 2022/11/28 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Growth rate, haematology and serum biochemistry of broilers fed diets supplemented with choline chloride JF - Notulae Scientia Biologicae JA - Not Sci Biol VL - 14 IS - 4 SE - Research articles DO - 10.55779/nsb14411324 UR - https://www.notulaebiologicae.ro/index.php/nsb/article/view/11324 SP - 11324 AB - <p>The study evaluated the effect of choline chloride (CC) supplementation on growth rate, haematology and serum biochemistry of broilers. 120-day-old broiler chicks were randomly divided into four groups of 30 birds each and these were further sub-divided into 3 replicates of 10 birds each. Group A served as the control while the diets of groups B, C and D were supplemented with 0.5 g/kg, 0.75 g/kg and 1 g/kg of CC respectively. 6weeks post-supplementation, haematology, serum biochemistry, total weight gain, feed efficiency and carcass characteristics were determined. Group C (0.75 g/kg choline) had a significantly (p&lt;0.05) higher feed efficiency (49.18%) than other choline-supplemented groups and control. There was no significant difference (p&gt;0.05) in the mean values of AST, ALT, total protein and creatinine across all groups. However, the ALP and cholesterol values of group D (4.42 U/L and 1.68 mg/dl respectively) were significantly (p&lt;0.05) higher than other groups. Lymphocyte counts of Group D was significantly (p&lt;0.05) lower than all other groups. The spleen weight (0.27 g) of group D was significantly (p&lt;0.05) higher than all other groups, but there was no significant difference (p&gt;0.05) in the relative weights of other organs of all four groups. The values of the breast weight/width, drumstick length/width, wing length and carcass length did not vary significantly across the supplemented-groups, but the breast-length, thigh weight/length/width, drumstick-weight, wing weight/width and carcass-weight of the control group were significantly higher than the supplemented-groups. Choline chloride supplementation at 0.75 g/kg may have contributed to improved feed efficiency but not with a corresponding excellent carcass yield.</p> ER -