Abstract

Plant extracts in poultry production are widely recognized for their significant benefits in improving productive performance. Specifically, the in ovo administration of soursop leaf extract (SLE) shows promise in improving the health and productivity of Noiler chickens. This study aimed to provide valuable insights into the health of the chicks and evaluate the effectiveness and safety of in ovo SLE in poultry production by examining the blood profile, internal organs, and intestinal morphology of Noiler chickens. For this experiment, 640 hatching eggs were incubated and randomly divided into four experimental groups, including 0.25 µg SLE, 0.5 µg SLE, 0.75 µg SLE, and a non-injected control group. Three treatment groups received a direct injection of 0.2 ml of the respective SLE concentrations into the air cells of the eggs on the 18th day of incubation. After hatching, chickens from each group were divided into five replicates of 15 chicks each and raised using a completely randomized design. At ten days of age, blood samples were collected from two chicks per replicate for hematology and serum analysis. Two chicks per replicate were sacrificed on day 10 to assess the internal organs and intestinal morphology. The results showed no significant changes in hematological parameters, serum biochemistry, and internal organs in all groups. The soursop leaf extract groups had markedly longer villi, deeper crypts, and thicker muscular walls compared to the control group. In conclusion, the in ovo injection of soursop leaf extract at 0.75 µg improved intestinal health by enhancing the intestinal surface structures in Noiler chickens. Open Access: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. © The Author(s) 2024