EFFECTS OF VARYING LEVELS OF COOKED KIDNEY BEAN MEAL (Phaseolus Vulgaris) AS REPLACEMENT OF SOYABEAN MEAL OR GROUNDNUT CAKE ON THE PERFORMANCE OF BROILER CHICKEN

Abstract

The experiment was conducted to assess the effects of different inclusion levels of cooked kidney bean meal as non-conventional feedstuff on the growth performance of broilers chicks. The test diets were formulated such that, diet T1 (control diet) contained no kidney bean meal, diet T2 contained 20% cooked kidney bean meal, diet T3 contained 40% cooked kidney bean meal and diet T4 contained 60% cooked kidney bean meal. The trial lasted for eight weeks and the following parameters were measured weekly during the course of the experiment. Feed intake, body weight, weight gain, feed conversion ratio, nutrient digestibility and length of body parts. The result showed that there were significant differences (p<0.05) in the Final body weights and average mean body weights. The birds fed 20% cooked kidney bean meal diets had the highest mean body weight (1220g) while birds fed 60% cooked kidney bean meal had the lowest mean body weight (941.20g). There was no significant difference (p>0.05) in the feed intake of birds ed cooked kidney bean meal diets. There were no significant differences (p>0.05) in the length of body parts except the thigh. Significant differences (P>0.05) were not observed in the dry matter, ether extract, crude fibre and ash digestibilities except in crude protein and NFE (Nitrogen Free Extract). It was concluded that the addition of cooked kidney bean meal had a positive effect on the performance as well as CP digestibility of the birds when the inclusion in the diet is within the range of 20-40% replacement of conventional plant protein sources.