The progressive increase in the cost and scarcity of conventional feedstuffs, especially energy and protein sources has resulted into a continuous effort in researching into the possible utilization of the under - exploited wild legumes in poultry feed formulation. Several Researchers had reported on the utilization of Moringa oleifera leaf meal in poultry diets whereas; few reports exist on the utilization of Moringa seed. Therefore, this study wasconducted to evaluate the effect of graded dietary levels of moringa seed cake (MSC) on the performance of broiler chickens. A total of 195, one day old Arbor Acre broiler chicks were randomly assigned into five dietary treatments of moringa seed cake, each treatment having three replicates in a completely randomized design. MSC was included at levels of 0, 5,10, 15 and 20% respectively. Feed and water were given ad- libitum. Proximate composition ofMSC showed that it is high in energy, crude protein and ether extract with3304. 39 ME kcals/ kg, 32.49 % and 17.70%, respectively. Birds fed 5% MSC diet were better than the birds on the other levels of MSC diets in terms of growth and carcass characteristics. The results obtained from growth study revealed a significant declined in, final weight, weight gain, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio as the inclusion levels of MSC increased beyond 5% in thediets. The birds on control diet had the best result in terms of final weight , daily weight gain and daily feed intake of 2974g/bird, 52.4g/bird / day and 107.51g/bird/ day respectively followed by those fed diet containing 5% MSC with 2183.4g/bird, 38.24/bird /day and 95.66g/bird /day respectively. whereas, the birds fed 20% MSC had the least (P>0.05) final weight, daily weight gain and daily feed intake of 560 g/bird, 9.26g/bird /day and 33.51g/bird/day respectively. Carcass characteristics followed similar trend as the growth parameters. Hematological indices showed significant differences across the dietary treatments, however, the results were within the normal range except for the white blood cell. It can therefore be, concluded that the inclusion of MSC in broiler chicken diet should not exceed 5% for optimum growth and general performance.
Effect of Dietary Supplementation with Differing Levels of Moringa oleifera Leaf Meal on the Productivity and Carcass Characteristics of Broiler Chickens
