Authors : C.D. Tuleun, A.Y. Adenkola and K.T. Orayaga
Abstract: A 35 days feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of the fermentation of mucuna seed meal on broiler performance, carcass characteristics and haematology. One hundred and fifty 4 weeks old Anak 2000 broiler chicks were randomly assigned to four treatments, replicated 3 times with 10 birds each. Mucuna seeds were purchased from International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria. They were cleaned of dirt, cooked in water for 5 h, drained of water, packed hot in jute bags and covered with polythene films to naturally ferment for 48 h, thereafter sun-dried and milled for the feeding trial. Five isonitrogenous and isocalolic diets were formulated such that diet 1 (0%) contained no mucuna and served as the control while 2, 3, 4 and 5 contained 5, 10, 15 and 20% Fermented Mucuna Seed Meal (FMSM), respectively. The results showed that final body weight, daily weight gain, daily feed intake, protein intake, feed conversion and protein efficiency ratios were not significant (p>0.05) affected by the level of dietary inclusion of FMSM. There were significantly (p<0.05) differences in the protein conversion ratio but with no definite pattern. Percentage bled weight and relative weight of spleen of the broilers were significantly (p<0.05) higher in birds on FMSM diets compared with the control treatment. However, the carcass characteristics and other visceral organs did not differ significantly (p>0.05) across the dietary treatments. Packed cell volume and haemoglobin values were significantly (p<0.05) higher in broilers on 20% FMSM diets but the values fell within the acceptable range for healthy chickens. Dietary inclusion of FMSM at 20% produced a comparable performance with the control diet and had no adverse effect on organ and haematological parameters.
C.D. Tuleun, A.Y. Adenkola and K.T. Orayaga, 2011. Naturally Fermented Mucuna Seed Meal Based Diets: Effect on Performance and Carcass Characteristics of Broiler Chickens. Research Journal of Poultry Sciences, 4: 50-55.