Effects of Moringa oleifera Leaves and Lysine on Growth Performance of Broiler Chicks

Abstract

An experimental research was carried out to evaluate the effects of Moringa oleifera leaves and lysine on the growth performance of broiler chicks. A total of 60 three-week old broiler chicks were used in this study. The chicks were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments; T1 (control) having 0kg Moringa oleifera and 0kg lysine inclusion, T2 had 0.25 kg of lysine with no Moringa oleifera, T3 had 0.25kg of Moringa oleifera with no lysine and T4 had 0.5 kg of Moringa oleifera and no lysine respectively. Each treatment was replicated thrice in a completely randomized design. The experiment lasted for 10 weeks during which the parameters monitored included weight, organ weights and carcass characteristics. The data collected were subjected to analysis of variance and LSD at 5% significant level. The highest weight gain was recorded in the broiler chicks fed with diet T4 (2.04kg) followed by those fed with diet T2 (20.13kg) while the least was recorded in those fed with diet T1 (15.79kg). The analysis of variance result revealed that there was significant difference (p<0.05) between the weight gain of broiler chicks fed with the four dietary treatments for 10 weeks. The specific growth rate of broiler chicks fed with diet T4 had the highest specific growth rate (2.23) followed by those fed with diet T3 (2.20) while the lowest was diet T2 (1.96). But no significant difference existed between the specific growth rates of the birds fed the four diets. It was concluded that Moringa oleifera leaves can serve as a major component of poultry ingredients as it contains high protein content, cheap and readily available.