Table 6.

Effects of PE and NE challenge on the skin pigmentation (L∗, a∗, and b∗ values¹) in broilers on d 35.

Item	Upper breast			Lower breast			Thigh
	L∗	a∗	b∗	L∗	a∗	b∗	L∗	a∗	b∗
Treatment2
UC	72.3ab	6.59	8.78	69.0	4.95	6.63	79.0a	4.59	8.27a
CC	70.9bcd	6.48	6.72	67.5	6.56	5.90	77.6b	4.99	6.58b
PE	71.8abc	6.32	7.50	68.7	5.69	6.26	79.0a	5.08	7.53ab
AM	69.9d	6.07	7.95	67.7	5.65	7.10	77.3b	4.31	8.22a
FAP	70.5cd	6.22	7.65	67.9	5.83	6.76	77.9ab	4.41	8.46a
HAP	72.5a	5.55	7.36	68.4	5.85	6.30	77.7b	4.61	7.55ab
SEM	0.6	0.41	0.51	0.6	0.41	0.51	0.4	0.40	0.42
Sex
Male	71.1	6.03	6.99b	68.1	5.97	5.99b	78.2	4.44	7.12b
Female	71.5	6.38	8.33a	68.3	5.53	6.99a	78.0	4.89	8.41a
SEM	0.3	0.24	0.29	0.3	0.24	0.29	0.3	0.23	0.24
P-value
Experimental treatment	0.006	0.550	0.120	0.359	0.182	0.630	0.024	0.705	0.024
Sex	0.356	0.306	0.002	0.599	0.195	0.018	0.575	0.175	0.001
Experimental treatment × Sex	0.386	0.624	0.763	0.651	0.047	0.893	0.228	0.399	0.560

^{a – c} Values in a row with no common superscripts differ significantly (P < 0.05). Mean values are based on 4 birds per replicate and 8 replicates per treatment.

¹Colour: lightness/luminosity (L∗), redness (a∗), and yellowness (b∗).

²UC, unchallenged control; CC, challenged control; PE, plant extract; AM, antimicrobial (narasin and nicarbazin; 50 ppm each active compound); FAP, full dose of AM plus PE; HAP, half dose of AM plus PE.