Effects of graded levels of dehulled and cooked caster oil bean (<i>Ricinus communi </i> L) meal and supplementary L-Lysine on performance of broiler finishers

Abstract

One hundred and forty-four commercial unsexed broiler finishers (Anak strain) were used in an experiment to investigate the effects of dehulled and cooked castor oil bean (Ricinus communis L) meal supplemented with L-lysine on growth performance and certain blood parameters of broiler finishers. The birds were randomly divided into 12 groups of 12 birds each and fed 12 isocaloric (12.13 MJ of ME/kg) and isonitrogenous (21% CP) diets for 4 weeks in a 4 x 3 factorial arrangement involving four levels (0,10,15 and 20%) of delulled and cooked castor oil bean meal (CBM) and three L-lysine levels (0,0.25 and 0.5%). Results revealed that body weight at 10 weeks, average daily weight gain (ADWG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), feed conversion ratio (FCR), protein efficiency ratio (PER), packed cell volume (PCV) and haemoglobin concentration (Hb) differed significantly (P