17 M. N. Siddiqui M.T. Islam M.A. Sayed M.A. Hossain Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences JAPS 20152015/04/01 25 2 372-379 1018-7081 NA <p>This study aimed to investigate effects of varying doses of&nbsp;<em>Nigella sativa</em>&nbsp;seed powder or acetone extracts in diet on feed intake, mortality, serum lipid profiles and population of intestinal microflora of broilers. A total 168, day-old broiler chicks (Cobb 500) were&nbsp;&nbsp;<em>ad-libitium</em>&nbsp;manually prepared feeds supplemented with 0, 1.5, 2.5, 3.0% seed powder or &nbsp;0, 0.2, 0.4% acetone extracts of&nbsp;<em>N. sativa</em>&nbsp;seed for 4 weeks. The experiment was conducted in a complete randomized design (CRD) with seven treatments and three replications.&nbsp;<em>N. sativa</em>&nbsp;supplemented feed had no significant effects on feed intake, body weight and mortality rate of broiler. However, supplementation of either 3.0% seed powder or 0.4% extracts of&nbsp;<em>N. sativa&nbsp;</em>seeds significantly (p&lt;0.05) decreased serum cholesterol and triglycerides contents in broiler. Furthermore, both&nbsp;<em>N. sativa</em>&nbsp;seed powder and extract supplemented feed also suppressed harmful bacterial (<em>Escherichia coli</em>) population in the feces. These results suggest that&nbsp;<em>N. sativa</em> seed might have potential as an alternative to hazardous synthetic feed additives (antibiotics) to formulate low cost and environment-friendly diet for the broiler.</p> Broiler, Nigella sativa seeds, Serum cholesterol, Escherichia coli Pakistan Agricultural Scientists Forum https://thejaps.org.pk/AbstractView.aspx?mid=2015-JAPS-53