Evaluation of Moringa (Moringa oleifera) leaf meal as a feed additive in broiler chickens diets

Abstract

Three hundred (300) Anak – 2000 unsexed day-old broiler chicks were used to investigate the effect of Moringa oleifera leaf (MLM) as a feed additive on growth performance, carcass characteristics, haematological and biochemical indices of broiler chickens. The chicks were randomly assigned to five dietary treatments consisting of four replicates of 15 chicks per replicate in a completely randomized design (CRD). The result of the growth performance shown that birds fed Moringa oleifera leaf meal supplemented diets showed significant (P0.05) among the treatment group, while feed conversion ratio (FCR) of birds fed T4 and T5 diets were superior. There was no significant difference (P>0.05) observed among the relative weights of kidney, lungs, liver, gizzard and the length of intestine. The average live weight, carcass weight, dressing percentage, thigh, breast and wing meat showed significant difference across dietary treatments. It was concluded that 0.1% MLM in broiler diets can be used as natural feed additive for enhancing growth performance, organ development, meat yield and serum cholesterol of broilers chicken.