The effect of giving herbal solution in drinking water on body weight gain, live weight, feed conversion, and eviscerated carcass local chicken

Faculty of Animal Husbandry, Padjadjaran University, Sumedang, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: w.tanwiriah@unpad.ac.id

Abstract

Indonesia is rich in herbal plants such as ginger, turmeric, and garlic, which are widely recognized for their health-promoting properties. These herbs contain bioactive compounds—gingerol, curcumin, and allicin—that act as antioxidants, antimicrobials, and digestive enhancers, offering potential benefits for livestock performance. In this study, an herbal solution was formulated by mixing equal parts of ginger, turmeric, garlic, and water. The research was conducted from August to September 2023 at the Poultry Production Laboratory and aimed to evaluate the effects of herbal solution supplementation in drinking water on the performance of local chickens. A total of 100 day-old local chicks, both male and female, were randomly assigned to four treatment groups with five replications each: T0 = drinking water only (control), T1 = 0.5% herbal solution, T2 = 1.0% herbal solution, and T3 = 1.5% herbal solution. The chickens were raised for 70 days, and performance parameters such as body weight gain, final live weight, feed conversion ratio, and eviscerated carcass yield were measured. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Duncan’s multiple range test. The results indicated that supplementation with 1.0% herbal solution in drinking water yielded the most favorable outcomes across all measured parameters.