EFFECTS OF DIFFERENTLY PROCESSED SICKLEPOD (SENNA OBTUSIFOLIA) SEED MEAL BASED DIETS ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF BROILER CHICKENS

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of toasted, fermented and raw sicklepod seed meal (SSM) based diets on the growth performance of broiler chickens. The seeds of sicklepod were harvested, threshed, cleaned and processed. A total of 240 day-old (Cobb 500) broiler chickens were purchased and randomly distributed to four treatments, 60 birds each, replicated thrice, 20 birds per replicate in a completely randomized design (CRD). The results on the performance of broilers fed SSM based diets at starter phase (2 – 4) weeks show no significant difference (P>0.05) for daily feed intake (DFI), daily weight gain (DWG), and feed conversion ratio (FCR). The results at finisher phase (5 – 8) weeks) show a highly significant difference (P<0.01) for DFI, DWG, and FCR. The results on the performance at overall phase 2 – 8 weeks shows a highly significant difference (P<0.01) for DWG while DFI and FCR are significantly different at (P<0.05) but mortality was not significant at all the phases. The results indicated that there was high feed utilization and an increased in daily weight gain of the broilers fed the processed SSM but birds fed diets containing fermented SSM recorded the best. Therefore, it is recommended that livestock farmers should use 10.0 % fermented SSM to feed broiler chickens as a protein ingredient, while the absence of mortality observed among the birds, proves safety in feeding broilers with SSM. Further research should be carried out on other monogastric animals using SSM.