Evaluating the Impact of Dietary Supplements on Chicken Weight Gain through a Crossover Design Approach

The purpose of this study was to determine how dietary supplements, specifically, ginger and turmeric powders, affect the weight increase of hens when fed two distinct diets (groundnut cake and soya bean cake). Using a crossover design, 100 one-day-old broiler chicks were randomly assigned to four groups, each of which had 25 chicks across two distinct time periods. The research collected primary data through experiments conducted at Ahmadu Bello Institute of Agriculture, Zaria, and employed Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) for data analysis. The results of the study showed that there were no significant differences observed between the two diets (p < 0.05). Nevertheless, significant differences were noted among the various supplements (p > 0.05), and an interaction effect was observed between the combined diet and supplement on the weight gain of the chickens (p > 0.05). In conclusion, the use of a combined diet with supplements in broiler chicken diets resulted in improved weight gain.