Effect of Adding Olive (Olea Europaea L.) Oil to Broiler Feed on Growth Performance and Mortality Rate

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of adding olive oil to broiler feed on growth performance and mortality rate. This study used 90   chicks of the Ross 308 strain that were randomly divided into 3 groups. Starting from the 15^th day of age, the first group was fed a basal diet without olive oil (control treatment), and the second and third treatments were fed a basal diet supplemented with olive oil at a rate of 1% (OO1%) or 2% (OO2%), respectively and the experiment continued until the 45th day of age. The results showed that the treatments containing 1% and 2% olive oil were significantly superior (P < 0.05) to the control treatment in live body weight (LBW) in most of the experimental weeks of the study as well as in the final live body weight (FLBW), and the results of daily weight gain (WG) followed the same trend. The results of feed intake (FI) showed that the cumulative FI (during the entire experimental period) was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in the control treatment than in the other two treatments, which were equal. However, the cumulative feed conversion rate (FCR) was higher in the control treatment, followed by the OO1% and OO2% treatments, respectively, but without statistically significant differences. Mortality rates (MR) were significantly higher in the OO2% treatment compared to the control treatment, but the ratios in both treatments were within normal limits, while no mortality was recorded in the OO1% treatment throughout the experiment. These results indicate that the addition of 1% olive oil achieved improved results in growth performance and survival rate of broiler chickens.