Abstract
The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary Eucommia ulmoides Oliver leaves(EUOL) on the growth performance and meat quality of broiler chicks. The dietary treatments consisted of the control diet(corn-soybean meal basal), and EUOL 2, 4, and 6% diets. The latter three diets were prepared by adding 2, 4, and 6% EUOL to the control diet. Ninety-six Arbor Acre male broiler chicks were randomly allotted to 16 pens; four pens per treatment and 6 birds per pen. The growth performance and carcass weight of broiler chicks fed EUOL diets were not significantly different(P>O.05) from the control birds. Also, the muscle color degrees(L*a*b *)in brolier chicks were similar to each other. The blood concentrations of protein, sugar and glutamic-pyruvic transarninase(GPT) were not different(P>O.05) between control and treatment groups. The blood total cholestrol content was significantly(P<0.05) decreased by the addition of EUOL. However, the addition of EUOL did not change the muscle components significantly. The bone hardness of broiler chicks fed EUOL was significantly(P<0.05) higher than that of control chicks.