Effect of Moringa oleifera leaf meal on growth performance, apparent digestibility, digestive organ size and carcass yield in broiler chickens

The effects of dietary supplementation of Moringa oleifera leaf meal (MOLM) as a growth promoter on the growth performance, apparent digestibility, digestive organ size, and carcass yield of broiler chickens were investigated. A total of 2400 one-day-old Cobb-500 broiler chicks of mixed sex were randomly allocated to five dietary treatments in six replications of 80 birds per pen. Fresh, green and undamaged mature M. oleifera leaves were collected from a number of trees from the same village to avoid variations in soil micronutrient content; and were grinded to produce MOLM. Dietary treatments were as follows: positive control (+C) with 668g salinomycin and 500g zinc bacitracin per kg of feed; MOLM (ML; 1, 3 and 5); MOLM (MM; 3, 9 and 15g); MOLM (MH; 5, 15 and 25g)] per kg of feed; and a negative control (-C; without supplementation). Diets were fed for 35d in starter, grower and finisher phases; and birds were provided feed and water ad libitum. At 35d of age, 12 birds per treatment, two from each replicate pen, were randomly selected, electrically stunned at 70V and killed by cervical dislocation for determination of carcass and organ weights. Bird weight at 7 and 21d of age, birds fed MH had the highest BW, while +C had the lowest (P