hp://vetresnotes.com/ 56 Abedin et al. / Vet. Res. Notes., 4(5): 56–64, May 2024 RESEARCH ARTICLE Honeyweed (Leonurus sibiricus) supplemented diet on growth performance, blood metabolites, histology, and intesnal microflora of broiler chicks Md. Tanvir Abedin 1 , Md. Niamotullah Sujon 1 , Rojatul Fardush 2 , Md. Nazrul Islam 3 , Md. Rashedul Islam 4 , Md. Abu Sayed 1 1 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur, Bangladesh 2 Department of Agronomy, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur, Bangladesh 3 Department of Pathology and Parasitology, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur, Bangladesh 4 Department of Genecs and Animal Breeding, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur, Bangladesh Contact Md. Abu Sayed sayed_bmb@hstu.ac.bd Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur, Bangladesh. How to cite this arcle: Abedin MT, Sujon MN, Fardush R, Islam MN, Islam MR, Sayed MA. Honeyweed (Leonurus sibiricus) supplemented diet on growth performance, blood metabolites, histology, and intesnal microflora of broiler chicks. Vet Res Notes. 2024;4(5):56–64. doi:10.5455/vrn.2024.d43. ABSTRACT Objecve: The study looked into the effects and techniques of feeding a tradional medicinal herb, honeyweed (Leonurus siribicus) to broiler chicks in a commercially operated poultry farm. Materials and Methods: Sixty chicks, each one day old, were paroned into four disnct groups: T1 (Commercial Feed), T2 (formulated feed, FF with 5% (w/w) honeyweed powder), T3 (FF with 5% (w/v) honeyweed powder soluon), and T4 (FF with 5% (w/v) honeyweed powder soluon administered through drops). This arrangement followed a completely randomized design, with three (3) replicaons of five (5) birds each. The broiler chicks were fed either commercial feed or FF with a honeyweed supplemented diet for 30 days. Results: The body weight, feed conversion rao (FCR), and death rate were computed at the conclu- sion of the trial. The T2 diet was found to have the lowest FCR, mortality rate, and maximum weight gain (p ≤ 0.05). Amazingly, honeyweed powder put into poultry feed dramacally reduced blood cholesterol, TG, and LDL and improved HDL (p ≤ 0.05). Remarkable differences in serum SGPT and SGOT levels have been found between the commercial feed and honeyweed-supplemented diets. Surprisingly, histological research revealed that 5% honeyweed-supplemented feed resulted in lit- tle fat formaon in the liver. In addion, a 5% (w/w) honeyweed-supplemented diet reduced the total viable bacteria in the feces. We also conducted the study to observe the anmicrobial acvity against Escherichia coli by using the methanol and water extracts of honeyweed in comparison to the synthec anbioc tetracycline in vitro. Intriguingly, tetracycline, methanol extract, and water extract of honeyweed showed inhibion zones of 17, 13, and 8 mm against E. coli, respecvely. Conclusion: Our findings suggested that this novel-designed feed with 5% honeyweed might be used as a natural feed addive instead of dangerously manufactured anbiocs for safe poultry meat producon. ARTICLE HISTORY Received August 02, 2023 Revised January 08, 2024 Accepted January 16, 2024 Published May 28, 2024 KEYWORDS Anbioc; blood metabolites; growth performance; histology; honeyweed Introducon The primary sources of life-saving medications and med- icine mostly developed from medicinal plants. In addition to being utilized as medicine, these plants are also used in food, flavonoids, perfume, and some types of spiritual prac- tices [1]. About 75%–80% of people globally, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), still use herbs or conventional therapies. Plant-based active ingredients are used directly as therapeutic agents and phytoconstituents, in addition to being used as lead molecules in the produc- tion of several medications. The majority of rural and dis- advantaged people receive significant economic benefits from using indigenous or herbal treatments. Around 25% © The authors. This is an Open Access arcle distributed under the terms of the Creave Commons Aribuon 4.0 License (hp://creavecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0) VETERINARY RESEARCH NOTES ISSN 2790-2218 (Electronic) hp://doi.org/10.5455/vrn.2024.d43 May 2024 Published by the Network for the Veterinarians of Bangladesh VOL 4, NO. 5, PAGES 56–64