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Indiscriminate use of antibiotics in livestock and poultry farming has caused emergence of new pathogenic strains and resistance to other strains. This situation warranted the development of safe and alternative growth promoters and immunity enhancers in livestock production. Phytogenic additives in animal and bird feed is a centuries-old practice. Thus, this study investigated the efficacy of turmeric rhizome powder (Curcuma longa) as a natural growth promoter poultry feed additive. The study was designed on 112 one-day old chicks, assigned into four groups. Control group (T1) kept on basal diet only and groups T2, T3 and T4 fed with 0.5%, 0.75 and 1% TRP respectively on top of the basal diet for 45 days. Each dietary group consisted of four replicates of seven birds. Body weight, feed intake, blood biochemical analysis status of serum was investigated. In summary, we concluded that TRP can be used as a natural feed additive to improve growth performance in poultry, probably due to the better antioxidant activity and antimicrobial effects contributed by the better bioavailability of curcuminoids and turmerones. Beside these curcuminoids and turmerones act as gastroprotective and anti-inflammatory agents. The results obtained from this work show that lower inclusion rates of turmeric (0.5%) have a better potential on most of the observed parameters.

Antibiotic resistance has become an alarming issue in recent years, and the poultry industry is seeking alternatives in broiler feed to enhance growth and produce safe meat to meet consumer demand. Turmeric is one of the natural feed additives with the potential to improve broiler health and productivity. The present study was conducted to evaluate feed intake, weight gain, and feed conversion efficiency under different dietary treatment levels. A total of one hundred twelve (112) day-old chicks were used and divided into four treatment groups: T1, T2, T3, and T4, containing 0%, 0.5%, 0.75%, and 1% turmeric powder, respectively. Each treatment was replicated three times with seven birds per replicate in a completely randomized experimental design. A significant effect of turmeric powder on feed intake was observed (P < 0.05), whereas non-significant effects were observed on weight gain, body weight, feed conversion ratio, and feed efficiency at different levels of Curcuma longa powder supplementation. The experimental flocks were uniform and showed low variability in five parameters; however, the coefficient of variation (CV) for feed efficiency ratio was slightly higher at approximately 2.94%. The results of this experiment suggest that supplementation with 0.75% turmeric powder enhances feed intake in broiler chickens.