Urtica dioica extract—suitable dietary supplement influencing the growth body characteristics, antioxidant status, and serum biochemical parameters of broiler chickens

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the nutritional impacts of nettle (Urtica dioica) extract (NE) on the growth performance, antioxidant status, and serum biochemical parameters in broiler chickens. Three hundred one-day-old male broiler chicks (Ross 308) were randomly allocated into four dietary treatments which were replicated five times with fifteen birds per replicate, including the control group (basal diet) and NE1, NE2, and NE3 groups (basal diet containing + 0.25 ml/l of administered through drinking water NE, 0.5 ml/l NE and 1 ml/l NE, respectively). On days 21 and 42, 2 chicks in each replicate were selected to collect blood from the wing veins and then slaughtered. In the 1–42-day period, body weight gain and feed intake improved in NE1 and NE2 treatments compared to the control diet and NE 3 (P < 0.05). Feeding broiler chickens with diets containing 0.25 ml/l NE increased serum concentrations of total protein and albumin and decreased serum concentration of blood urea nitrogen (BUN), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), triglycerides, and cholesterol (P < 0.05). Breast yield was significantly increased by NE1. Treatments containing NE showed a significant increase in thigh yield compared to the control treatment (P < 0.05). The activity of total antioxidant capability (T-AOC) and total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) activities in serum increased in NE1 compared to other treatments (P < 0.05). In conclusion, it can be summarized that using NE affected growth performance, carcass characteristics, serum biochemistry, and antioxidant status of broiler chickens. The optimal dose in the present study of NE in broiler diets was 0.25 ml/l. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag London Ltd., part of Springer Nature.