ABSTRACT

 This research was conducted to determine the influence of benzoic acid on growth performances and intestinal wall morphology of broilers bird, and to check the effectiveness of benzoic acid as a good substitute of antibiotic growth promoters in broiler production. The research was carried out using 120 day old broilers birds divided into five (5) groups, each having 24 broiler birds, and eight (8) birds' per replicate. The level of inclusion of the benzoic acid was based on control0%, treatment 1= 5%, T2= 12%, T3= 18% and T4=24%, and the benzoic acid was fed to the broiler birds in the feed from the 4LI week of the experiment to the 9th week of the experiment. At the end of the experiment (42days), two birds per treatment were slaughtered. The carcass weight and organ proportion were determined. The pH of the digest, from the oesophagus, stomach, intestine and were determined, while photographs of the ileum showing the villi and crypts was taken. Result showed that the body weights of birds in treatment I and 2 were the highest, that is 1.66kg and 1.76kg but treatment 2 had the best growth performances which was significantly different (P<0.05) from the body weight of other birds in other treatments. The v111i of the ileum in treatment 4 was destroyed, but there was a complete reduction in the microbial load in treatment 4. The action of benzoic acid on villi was increasing as the level of inclusion of the benzoic acid increased. The different segment of the gastro intestinal tract had different pH concentration, due to the level of benzoic acid inclusion. In conclusion, benzoic acid at 12%inclusion level in animal feed led to improved weight gain and also helped suppress some microbes like Eschcrichia coil, which compete with the host animal for nutrient, there by improving the growth performance in broiler birds.