Voluntary feed intake and growth of broilers on Acacia angustissima leaf meal based starter and finisher diets

摘要

OnehundredandfiftyunsexedRossbroilerchickswereusedtodeterminevoluntaryfeedintakeandgrowthnbsp;ofbroilerchicksfeddietscontainingnbsp;Acaciaangustissimaleafmealatlevelsof0%(AA0),5%(AA5)and10%(AA10)fromdayoldto7weeksofage.Theexperimentwasarrangedinacompletelyrandomizeddesignwiththreetreatments,eachreplicatedfivetimeswithtenchicksperreplicate.Weeklyfeedintakeandbodyweightweremeasuredandthesewereusedtocalculatefeedconversionratio.FeedintakeforbirdsonAcaciadietswasgreater(P0.05)thaninthecontrolgroup.BodyweightgainofbirdsonAcaciadietswasgreaternbsp;(P0.05)thaninthecontrolgroupduringWeek3.DuringWeek6bodyweightsforbroilersondietAA5werelower(P0.05)thaninthecontrolandbothAA5andAA10hadlower(P0.05)bodyweightgainsthanthecontrolduringtheseventhweek.Duringthelast3weeks,feedconversionratesforbirdsfedAcaciawerepoorer(P0.05)thaninthecontrolgroup.Itwasconcludedthat,Acaciaangustissimabaseddietcanbesuccessfullyincorporatedinbroilerstarterat10%inclusionlevelbutcontinueduseofthedietsfromthestartertofinisherphasewillcompromisethefinalbodyweight.nbsp;