Effect of replacing full-fat soybean meal with undefatted cashew reject kernel meal on the growth response, blood parameters, organ weight and abdominal fat weight of broiler chicks

Abstract

This preliminary feeding trial examined the effects of replacing full-fat soybean meal with undefatted cashew reject kernel meal on the growth response, blood parameters, organ weight and abdominal fat of broiler chicks. Three hundred 1-day-old unsexed Arbor-acre strain broiler chicks stochastically assigned in a completely randomized design to five dietary class of sixty birds each replicated six times in a 21-day feeding trial. The control diet (T1) was a maize- full-fat soybean meal (SBM) based diet. Undefatted cashew reject kernel meal (UCRKM) was used to replace 12.50 %, 25.00 %, 37.50 % and 50.00 % full-fat SBM in the control diet, and were referred to as diets T2, T3, T4 and T5 correspondingly. The chemical composition revealed that UCRKM contained 26.56 % crude protein, 3.30 % crude fibre, 2.99 % ash, 35.05 % ether extract, 23.07 % nitrogen-free extract and 4285.76 kcal kg-1 metabolizable energy. Significant disparities (P ≤ 0.05) were noticed in growth parameters with feed conversion ratio similar to those on T1 up to 50 % substitution. The red blood cell count, mean corpusculars, platelet count, alanine amino transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, creatinine, internal organ weights were influenced (P ≤ 0.05) except the liver and abdominal fat. UCRKM is therefore recommended as a replacement for up to 50.00 % full-fat SBM in broiler starter diets.