Effects of Dried khat (Catha edulis) Leaves as a Natural Feed Additive on the White Leghorn Layers Performance

Abstract

Khat contains many bioactive compounds that are beneficial for chickens’ health. Most of the chemical constituents found in Khat are biologically active and are used worldwide for the treatment of many diseases. However, there are few studies on the use of Khat in poultry as a nutrition, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activity. Therefore, the present study evaluated the effects of dried Khat leave (DKL) as a natural feed additive on the White Leghorn layer's performance, serum chemistry, and hematology. A total of 180 White Leghorn chickens, aged 168 days were randomly divided into four groups consisting of 45 chickens in three replications. Thirteen layers and two cocks were assigned to each replication and reared on a deep litter system. The diets of layers in T1, T2, T3, and T4 were supplemented by DKL at proportion of 0%, 0.2%, 0.4%, and 0.6%, respectively. The layers were evaluated for feed intake, body weight gain, egg production, feed conversion ratio, and some blood parameters, such as total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, albumin, globulin, red blood cells, hemoglobin, packed cells volume, white blood cells, and total protein. Feed intake in T1 (103.5 g) was significantly higher than T4 (98.5 g) and T3 (98.9 g). Layers in T1 significantly gained higher body weight than layers in other treatments. The use of DKL in layer chickens’ diet did not affect egg production, egg mass, and feed conversion ratio. An increase in the level of DKL in the layers diet significantly reduced the serum high-density lipoprotein, cholesterol, and albumin. The present study showed that chickens that received a higher proportion of dried khat leaf (0.6%) significantly recorded lower levels of low-density lipoprotein and total cholesterol in their blood.