The Effect of Propolis on Selected Blood Parameters of Broilers

Recent studies have suggestedthat propolis is very important factor for the improvement of the performanceas well as health of broilers1,2. Theaim of this study was to determine the effect of propolis on selectedbiochemical blood parameters in broilers. This experimental study was conductedon 120 Ross 308 broiler chickens of equally distributed sex, which wererandomly divided into three groups: control group (C) and two experimentalgroups of chickens (P1 and P2). Throughout the whole study (for 42 days) thecontrol group of chickens was fed feed mixture while feed mixture that was fedto the experimental groups of chickens contained propolis in amount of 0,5 g/kg(P1 group) and 1,0 g/kg of feed mixture (P2 group). The study revealedstatistically significant differences in average values of blood glucose, bloodcholesterol, sodium, chlorides and calcium (p<0.001) as well as in averagevalues of total proteins (p=0.039), globulins (p=0.011), triglycerides(p=0.034) and phosphorus (p=0.011) in chickens of the experimental groupscompared to the chickens of the control group on the 21st day offattening. The study also showed statistically significant differences inaverage values of blood cholesterol (p<0.001) and sodium (p=0.049) inchickens of the experimental groups compared to the chickens of the controlgroup on the 42nd day of fattening. It can be concluded that theapplication of propolis as additive in broilers feeding enables the productionof more vital and healthier animals, which furthermore, significantly improvesthe fattening of broilers.