Effect Of Adding Olive Leaf Powder to The Diet on Growth Performance, Hematological, And Biochemical Parameters in Broilers

The experiment was conducted over a 42-day period from February 2 to March 15, 2025, at a private farm in Tartous Governorate to evaluate the effects of incorporating olive leaf powder as a natural feed additive on broiler growth and health. A total of 200 one-day-old Ross-308 chicks, with an initial average weight of 40 g, were randomly assigned to four experimental groups, each with five replicates of ten birds. The control group received the basal diet without additives, while the other three groups were supplemented with olive leaf powder at levels of 0.15%, 0.25%, and 0.35%. A gradual improvement in the studied parameters was observed in groups T2, T3, and T4 compared to the control group T1, with the most marked improvement observed in group T4. Significant increases (p ≤ 0.05) in average body weight of 4.5% and 4.3% were recorded, accompanied by improvements in feed conversion ratios improving by 5.7% and 5.4% at the end of the first and second phases, respectively. Hematological and biochemical analyses showed significant increases in red blood cell count by 4.6% and 4.2%, hemoglobin by 1.5% and 1.4%, white blood cell count by 2.2%, total protein by 2.9%, albumin by 2.6% and 2.5%, and globulin by 3.3% and 3.6%, along with a significant reduction (p ≤ 0.01) in glucose by 7% and 6.9% and total cholesterol by 9% and 8.8% on days 21 and 42, respectively