Performance and Haematological Characteristics of Broiler Finisher Fed Moringa oleifera Leaf Meal Diets

Abstract

To investigate the effects of Moringa oleifera leaf meal (MOLM) on the performance and haematology of broiler finisher using 120 Cobb chicks of 4 weeks old broiler chicks. The birds were assigned randomly into four dietary treatments containing MOLM at 0, 6%, 8%, and 10% (treatments 1, 2, 3 and 4) inclusion levels, respectively, in a complete randomized design experiment. The effect of the dietary treatments on the growth performance and blood parameters of the broiler finisher was determined. MOLM at a rate of 6% (T2), 8% (T3), and 10% (T4) of the diets (as fed basis) to replace 3.2%, 5.6% and 8.6% of the crude protein (CP) of the control diet. The daily feed, dry matter and CP intake of the chicks fed MOLM diets were higher (p<0.05) than those fed the control diet. Average weight gain (AWG) of birds fed MOLM diets reduced as inclusion levels increases (p<0.05) than those fed the control diet. Chicks fed T2 showed higher (p<0.05) AWG than those on T3 and T4. Feed conversion ratios (FCR, weight gain/g and feed intake) were higher for chicks fed MOLM. MOLM showed minimal deleterious effects in birds. However, birds fed T2 (6%) diets recorded significantly (p<0.05) the highest body weight gain. There were significant differences (p<0.05) among groups in packed cell volume (PVC) of birds. The haemoglobin (Hb), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) counts showed no significant difference (p>0.05) among treatments. The results indicated that at 10% in the diets of broiler finisher chick, MOLM could be substituted with expensive conventional protein sources without any deleterious effects on performance and blood parameters of broiler finisher chicken.