Effect of supplementing fungi degraded cowpea seedhull in broiler diets

Abstract

The effect of inclusion of fungi degraded cowpea seedhull was investigated in a broiler study that lasted for eight weeks. The degraded seedhull was included at 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20% levels in a Completely Randomized Design experiment. The performance characteristics and heamatological parameters were evaluated. Birds on 5% dietary inclusion of the degraded seedhull had the highest (P< 0.05) body weight of 2125.00g/bird, followed by birds fed 20% inclusion of the degraded seedhull (2025.00g/bird) while those fed control diet gave the least (1675.00g/bird) value. An improvement in the Total Protein (TP) of finisher birds over the starters was observed in the entire dietary group. No significant (P>0.05) difference was observed in the globulin content and values obtained ranged between 2.36 and 1.39mg/100. The highest cholesterol value was observed in birds fed control diet while the least was observed with birds fed 20% (98.06mg/100ml).

Key words: Aspergillus niger, biodegradation, performance, cowpea seedhull,