**2.2 Common plant extracts and additives used for orthodox drugs in poultry production**

The use of plants with medicinal properties is receiving global attention with respect to livestock production and human health due to the resulting resistances from the use of antibiotics in both humans and animals. Some of these microbes/ bacteria have developed resistances posing a potential risk to the welfare of man and livestock [35]. Several phytobiotics have proven to be useful for improving growth, nutrient absorption, gut integrity, and immunity [36–38]. Presently, the use of herbs is not limited to humans alone but finding acceptance in many poultry farms. Low-income or subsistence farmers prefer the use of herbal medicines *vis a viz* the use of orthodox drugs in poultry farming, which are very expensive [39]. The call for restraint in the use of antibiotics for therapeutic and preventive measures against disease pathogens in poultry have necessitated the need for the use of alternatives that could serve the same purpose as it were in the application of antibiotics [40]. Some plants and their extracts have secondary metabolites that are useful in enhancing the

performance of the birds. The increasing cases of antibiotic resistances in livestock production are attributed to the low sensitivity of these disease parasites from the use of these conventional drugs [41].
