Performance and nutrient utilization of broiler starters fed diets containing raw, boiled or dehulled pigeonpea seeds (Cajanus cajan)

Abstract

Two hundred and sixteen 7-day old broilers were used to compare three types of pigeon pea seed meal, namely raw, boiled and dehulled at two levels, 20 and 30% of the diet in a 3x2 factorially designed experiment lasting four weeks. Measurements recorded included weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio (FCR), protein efficiency ratio (PER), nutrient retention and live weight of the broilers at the end of the fourth week. Better results were obtained when pigeon pea seed meal (PPSM) was included at 30% level than at 20% in all performance criteria. The interaction between processing method and level of inclusion was significant (P<0.001) with dehulled PPSM included at 30% (D30) producing best results; while at 20%, dehulled PPSM was not superior to boiled PPSM. In all measurements, broilers fed boiled and dehulled PPSM performed significantly better (P<0.01) than those fed raw seed meal Results of this experiment indicated that broilers fed dehulled pigeon pea seed meal at 30% inclusion level produced best results.

Keywords: Pigeonpea, dehulled, performance nutrient utilization, broiler starter