Abstract

This experiment was conducted in the broiler farm of the Department of Animal Production, College of Agricultural Engineering, University of Salahaddin, in the Grda Rasha area, Erbil, to study the influence of different levels of feed addition of Moringa oleifera seed powder compared to the synthetic antioxidant BHT on growth performance, carcass traits, and meat quality in the broiler. 400 unsexed one-day-old Ross 308 chicks, with an average weight of 38.85 ± 0.07 g, were used and randomly distributed into five experimental treatments with four replicates per treatment (20 birds/replicate). The treatments were as follows: T1: Control (Standard diet). T2: Standard diet + 0.02% butylhydroxytoluene (BHT). T3: Standard diet + 0.25% Moringa oleifera seed powder (MOSP). T4: Standard diet + 0.50% MOSP. T5: Standard diet + 0.75% MOSP. Statistical analysis results showed significant differences in both treatments T2 and T4 in both live body weight and considerable superiority in the total weight gain rate and feed conversion efficiency rate, while the results of carcass traits (dressing percentage, breast weight, thigh weight) did not show significant differences between treatments. As for meat quality, no significant differences were recorded in pH values, color, and cooking loss, while significant differences appeared in treatments when investigating water holding capacity (WHC) and shear force in favor of treatment T5. The study concludes that the use of Moringa oleifera seed powder as a feed additive (At a rate of 0.25- 0.50- 0.75%) for broiler chickens contributes to the production of chickens with significant weight gain, feed conversion efficiency, high (WHC), and shear force of broilers' meat.