Effect of organic acids fed through drinking water on carcass and internal organs of broiler chickens

Abstract

The price of Maize as a major source of energy in poultry feeding is becoming increasingly prohibitive in Nigeria hence this study investigated the effect of toasted Earth ball (lcacinia manni) as an alternative energy source. Fresh tubers of lcacinia manni were collected, peeled, washed, sliced and milled into a paste which was further pressed to reduce the initial moisture content using a hand press. The dehydrated paste was transferred to an earthen-pot and toasted at 100C using firewood as fuel until moisture content was reduced tol0-12%. The dried sample was chemically analysed for proximate and anti-nutrient components and later used to formulate five experimental diets which contained 239%crude protein (CP) and 2,800kcalkg of metabolizable energy (ME)for the starter and 20% CP and 2,900kcal/kg of ME in the finisher phases Diet I was the control while diets 2, 3, 4and 5 contained toasted I. manni replacing maize at 15, 30, 45 and 65% levels, respectively. Two hundred and twenty live (225) Anak-2000 day-old chicks of a commercial strain were shared into five experimental groups of 45 birds each which were further divided into three replicates of 15 birds using completely Randomized Design for the experiment that lasted for 56 days. Toasting as a processing method reduced the compositions of hydrogen cyanide (81.89%), total oxalate (62.56%) and soluble oxalate (56.0%). Phytate increased by 20.0% in the toasted sample. Birds that were fed 15% I. manni diet had the highest (P<0.05) daily weight gain and feed intake of 33.21g and 90.07g, compared to other treatment groups including control. Feed conversion ratio did not differ significantly among treatment groups. The level of inclusion of I. manni in all the diets significantly influenced the organs characteristic of the birds. The group of birds fed on the 60% I. manni meal diet had the highest (P<0.05) percentage weight for the gizzard, heart liver proventriculus and intestine It was concluded that toasted I. Mani meal could replace up to 15% of maize as an energy source in broiler diets.