Carcass quality, haematological and blood biochemical profile of broiler chickens fed diets with graded levels of irish potato peel meal supplemented with enzyme

Abstract

A study was carried out to search for alternative energy sources for maize in poultry diet. A 9-week experiment was conducted to ascertain the effect of diets containing feeding varying levels of Irish potato peel meal (IPPM) used to replace maize with enzyme supplementation on the carcass quality, haematological and blood biochemical profile of broiler chickens. Two hundred and forty (240) Anak-2000 broiler chicks aged 6 days were randomly assigned to 12 floor pens containing 20 birds each. Four diets were formulated based on 23 and 20% crude protein in the starter and finisher phases respectively, to contain 0, 5, 10 and 15% IPPM supplemented with enzyme to serve as replacement for maize. Each of the diets was fed to 3 pens of 20 birds in a completely randomized design. Data were collected on carcass quality and blood samples at the end of the experiment. There were no adverse effects of the test material on the carcass quality, haematological and blood biochemical profile of broiler chickens.