Replacement of Soybean Grain with Cowpea Grain (Vigna unguiculata) as Protein Supplement in Sasso x Rir Crossbred Chicks Diet

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the feeding value of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) grain for the replacement of soybean grain on the performance of SASSO x RIR crossbred chicks. A total of one hundred ninety five 21-day-old unsexed SASSO x RIR crossbred chicks were grouped into 15 pens of 13 chicks each, and randomly assigned to five treatments with a supplement of 100% soybean as control (T1), 75% soybean +25% cowpea in T2, 50% soybean +50% cowpea in T3, 25% soybean +75% cowpea in T4 and 100% cowpea supplement in T5 to the 30% of TMR. The results showed that the mean dry matter intake and dry matter conversion ratio did not vary (P>0.05) among the dietary treatments. However, significantly (P<0.05) inferior daily weight gain was obtained in chicks fed 100% cowpea supplement than the rest of dietary treatments. The CP intake was reduced (P<0.05) when the cowpea grain inclusion level is increased. Similarity in growth performance between chicks fed the control and a supplement of 25% soybean +75% cowpea was observed. Based on this, it could be concluded that soybean grain could be replaced by cowpea grain in chicks rations at the level of 75% without any adverse effect on growth performance of chicks so as to increase the economic efficiency.