Effects of Replacing Vitamin-Mineral Premix with Leaf Meal Composite on Blood Profile of Starter Broiler Chickens

Abstract

Effects of replacing dietary vitamin-mineral premix (VMP) with graded inclusions leaf meal composite from selected vegetables on serum and haematological indices of broiler starter chicks were investigated. One day-old Arbor Acre chicks (n = 320) were randomly allotted to four treatment groups with eight replicates of ten chicks each in a completely randomised design. Air-dried leaves of Telfaria occidentalis, Celosia argentea, Vernonia amygdalina and Moringa oleifera were milled and constituted in equal proportions to a leaf meal composite (LMC). Four diets formulated were: standard diet (T1) without LMC while other diets contained 1.5 (T2), 3.0 (T3) and 4.5 (T4) % LMC. On day 21, blood (5 mL) was sampled from two birds per replicate for haematological and selected serum biochemical assays. Treatment had no significant effect (p>0.05) on determined haematological parameters. Similarly, effects of treatments on aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, blood urea nitrogen, and creatinine were not significantly different (p>0.05) however, alanine aminotransferase values (U/L) 23.5, 23.5, 23.75 and 35.75 for chicks on diets T1, T2, T3 and T4, respectively were significantly different (p<0.05). The LMC successfully replaced VMP in the diet of broiler starter chickens without any critical implication on chicks’ health.