The growth performance, nutrient digestibility and carcass characteristics of broilers fed cooked flamboyant (Delonix regia) seed meal

Abstract

The experiment was designed to study the effect of replacing groundnut cake (GNC) in the diet of broilers with graded levels of cooked Flamboyant seed meal (CFSM) as a protein source. The experimental diets were designated as T₁, T₂, T₃ and T₄ having 0%, 10%, 15% and 20% level of inclusion of CFSM respectively. One hundred and twenty day-old Hubbard broiler chicks were used for the experiment. The chicks were divided into four treatment groups each with three replicates. Parameters measured included body weight, body weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio (FCR) and nutrient digestibility. The effect of the replacement on carcass characteristics was also evaluated. Results showed no significant (P>0.05) difference across the treatments at the starter phase for all the parameters evaluated except for feed intake, body weight and nutrient digestibility. At the finisher phase, there were significant (P<0.05) differences observed in feed consumption, body weight, body weight gain, feed efficiency and nutrient digestibility coefficients among the treatments. No significant (P>0.05) difference was observed amongst the carcass parameters except the thigh and breast. It was concluded that broilers can tolerate CFSM up to 20% level of inclusion without any adverse effect on their performance.

Keywords: Broilers, carcass characteristics, cooked flamboyant, digestibility, growth, nutrient.