The effect of stevia as a feed sweetener on weight gain and feed consumption of broiler chickens

Abstract

One thousand day-old male chicken broilers housed in 16 floor pens to 42 d of age were used to study the effect of stevia on weight gain and feed consumption. The experimental design was a randomized complete block consisting of four diets (0%, 0.0085%, 0.0425% and 0.085% stevia) each replicated four times. Stevia did not appear to improve feed consumption or weight gain of broilers when used as a feed additive at the concentrations tested in this study. Key words: Broilers, stevia, feed additive, growth performance