Effects of Dietary Inclusion of Turmeric (Curcuma Longa) and Clove (Syzygium Aromaticum) on the Growth Performance, Carcass Characteristics, and Organ Parameters of Broiler Chickens

In the world of poultry farming, the goal is simple: raise healthy chickens that grow efficiently into meat, without relying on medicines that leave residues or create resistant bacteria. For decades, farmers used antibiotic growth promoters to achieve this, but as regulations tightened and concerns about food safety grew, the search turned toward nature. Farmers and scientists began looking at plants that have been used for centuries in cooking and traditional medicine, hoping to find natural compounds that could boost animal health and growth. Two such plants are turmeric, the golden root known for its earthy flavor and anti-inflammatory properties, and clove, the dried flower bud prized for its sharp, warm scent. These plants contain powerful chemical compounds that can fight harmful bacteria, reduce inflammation, and help animals digest their food better. The question facing researchers was whether adding these spices to chicken feed could replace antibiotics, and if so, how much of each spice was needed to get the best results without causing harm.

A team of researchers at the Enugu State University of Science and Technology in Nigeria set out to answer this question by testing different combinations of turmeric and clove on broiler chickens. They started with one hundred and twenty young chicks and divided them into four groups. One group ate a standard diet with no added spices, serving as a baseline for comparison. The second group received a diet with five grams of turmeric per kilogram of feed. The third group ate a diet with five grams of clove per kilogram. The final group received a mix of both, but at lower doses: two and a half grams of turmeric and two and a half grams of clove per kilogram. The birds were raised in a controlled environment for five weeks, and the researchers carefully tracked how much they ate, how much they weighed, and how efficiently they converted food into body mass. At the end of the trial, the scientists examined the birds' carcasses to see how much meat they produced and weighed their internal organs to ensure the spices did not cause any hidden damage.

The results revealed a clear winner, but not in the way one might expect. The group that received only turmeric actually performed the worst, growing slower and converting feed less efficiently than the birds on the plain diet. This suggested that while turmeric has benefits, giving it in a high dose of five grams per kilogram might be too strong for the chickens, potentially irritating their digestive systems or interfering with their growth. The group fed only clove performed better than the turmeric-only group but still did not match the control group in every category. However, the birds fed the combination of both spices at the lower, mixed dose showed remarkable improvement. These chickens grew the fastest, gaining an average of two thousand six hundred and forty grams of weight, and they finished the trial with the heaviest final body weight of over three thousand one hundred grams. They also turned their feed into meat more efficiently than any other group, requiring less food to gain a pound of weight.

When the researchers processed the birds, the benefits of the mixed diet became even more visible. The chickens fed the combination of turmeric and clove produced the most meat. Their dressed weight, which is the weight of the bird after it has been slaughtered and cleaned, reached nearly two thousand three hundred grams, and their dressed percentage—the proportion of the live bird that became meat—was the highest at over seventy-two percent. Most importantly for meat quality, these birds had the largest breast muscles and thighs, which are the most valuable cuts of meat. They also carried less abdominal fat than the other groups, meaning the meat was leaner. In contrast, the birds that ate only turmeric had the lowest carcass yield, confirming that the high dose of that single spice was counterproductive.

The study also looked inside the birds to see if the spices affected their internal organs. The results were reassuring. The weights of the heart, gizzard, and other vital organs did not show any signs of stress or damage in the treated groups. In fact, the birds on the mixed diet had slightly larger hearts and crops, which are parts of the digestive system, suggesting their bodies were working efficiently to process the food. The spleen, an organ involved in the immune system, was smaller in the treated birds compared to the control group, which scientists interpret as a sign that the birds were under less stress and did not need to fight off as many internal infections. The absence of any deaths in the experiment further confirmed that these spices, when used in the right amounts, are safe for the chickens.

The researchers concluded that the success of the mixed diet came from the way the two spices worked together. The active compounds in turmeric and clove likely helped the chickens absorb nutrients better and manage their fat metabolism more effectively, leading to faster growth and leaner meat. While using a high amount of just one spice did not work well, combining them at lower levels created a synergy that improved the birds' overall health and productivity. This finding offers a practical path forward for poultry farmers who want to move away from antibiotics. By mixing two and a half grams of turmeric and two and a half grams of clove into every kilogram of feed, farmers can potentially raise chickens that grow faster, produce more meat, and remain healthy without the need for synthetic growth promoters. The study suggests that nature's own pantry holds the key to a more sustainable and efficient way of raising poultry, provided the ingredients are used in the right balance.