Comparative Study on Egg Characteristics of Yoruba Ecotype Nigerian Local Chickens and Isa Brown Chickens Fed Graded Levels of Moringa oleifera Seed Meal

Abstract

Background: Moringa oleifera seed meal is a potential noble feed ingredient that could be incorporated into the diet of poultry. It is a potential cheaper alternative considering its ability to thrive under all climatic conditions in Nigeria, West Africa. The study was aimed at evaluating the effects of the dietary inclusion of Moringa oleifera seed meal (MOSM) on the egg characteristics, feed conversion ratio and body weight of parameters of Yoruba Ecotype Nigerian Local Chickens (YENLC) and Isa Brown chickens. Methods: The study assessed the comparative influence of dietary MOSM on the egg characteristics of YENLC and Isa Brown chickens. Data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance using the general linear model procedure of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 22. Result: The findings of this study were that: dietary inclusion of MOSM affected the egg characteristics of YENLC and Isa Brown chickens. Egg length, egg width, yolk weight and yolk height decreased significantly (p less than 0.05) with increasing levels of MOSM. There was significant interaction (p less than 0.05) between MOSM inclusion and genotypes of chickens. For both genotypes, egg number was significantly higher (p less than 0.05) till 5% inclusion level of MOSM while hen day production reduced with increasing levels of MOSM. It can thus be concluded that MOSM can be included for both genotypes up till 10% but YENLC would still perform better at 15% when compared with the Isa Brown hens.