CC BY 4.0Tattao, Rosemarie O.Panas, Joseph A.de Castro, David T.Soliba, Mishima P.Calimpang, Ison A.Pajarillo, Rolyne Mae C.2025-11-282025-11-282023-12Tattao, R. O., Panas, J. A., de Castro, D. T., Soliba, M. P., Calimpang, I. A., & Pajarillo, R. M. C. (2023). Improved feed efficiency and nutritional property effects of honey from Apis mellifera L. as an additive for broiler chickens’ drinking water. DMMMSU Research and Extension Journal, 7, 65–75. https://doi.org/10.62960/dmmmsu.v7i.440119-2035https://doi.org/10.62960/dmmmsu.v7i.44https://lakasa.dmmmsu.edu.ph/handle/123456789/667Antimicrobial usage is particularly high in poultry production. Honey as a water supplement to poultry has been explored as a natural and safe antibiotic alternative. This study aimed to investigate the effects of different levels of honey as a water supplement on broilers' growth performance and chemical properties. Five dietary treatments were used: no supplement (T1), commercial electrolytes (T2), 5mL honey (T3), (7.5mL honey (T4), and 10mL honey (T5) per liter of water. The experiment used 150 1-day-old Cobb-400 broiler chicks, assigned to five treatments with three replications of ten (10) birds each (N=30) employing the Complete Block Design (RCBD) in three blocks. Results indicated that 5mL/L-10mL/L honey supplementation led to a significant (p < 0.05) decrease of 4.3% to 7% in feed consumption compared to those with electrolytes. Similarly, using 5mL/L of honey showed 12.5% lower FCR compared with T2 and 24.3% compared with T1. However, a higher level of honey was comparable to T2, indicating that honey supplementation improved feed utilization and reduced feed cost at a certain level. Results of the proximate analysis, particularly on moisture content (MC), crude protein (CP), crude fat (CF), and total carbohydrates ((TC), revealed numerical differences. Samples with 5mL/L to 7.5mL/L levels of honey showed a higher MC, CP, and TC content and lower CF than T2. This implies that honey as a drinking water supplement offers practical advantages in feed consumption and efficiency and in improving the chemical and nutritional properties of chicken meat. A choice for healthier production.enHoney as feed additiveFeed efficiencyBroiler chickensPoultry nutritionGrowth performanceNutritional propertiesWater supplementationBroilers (Chickens)Broilers (Chickens)--Feeding and feedsBroilers (Chickens)--GrowthPoultryPoultry--NutritionHoneyAnimal nutritionArticle