Performance of Starter Broilers Fed Anaerobically Fermented and Lyle Treated Delonix regia Seed Meal

Abstract

One hundred and twenty day-old Hubbard broiler birds were used to study the effects of anaerobic fermentation and Lyle treatment of Delonix seed meal on the performance of starter Broilers. The experimental period spanned 5 weeks. The birds ere divided into four treatment groups of three replicates each using complete randomised design. The anaerobically fermented and Lyle treated Delonix seed meal (AFLTDSM) was used to replace groundnut cake (GNC) at 0%, 5% and 7.5% level. Untreated raw Delonix seed meal (URDSM) was also used at 5% in order to evaluate its effects on broiler starter performance. The four treatments were designated as T1, T2, T3 and T4 respectively. Parameters evaluated were mean body weight, daily body weight gain, mean feed intake, mean feed conversion ratio as well as apparent nutrient Digestibility. The results showed that mean body weight, daily body weight gain, mean feed intake and mean feed conversion ratio were not significantly affected (P>0.05) by the substitution of GNC with AFLTDSM in the diets. However, apparent Nutrient Digestibility of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), ash, ether extract (EE) and nitrogen free extract (NFE) were significantly affected (P<0.05) by the treatment Diets. Crude fibre (CF) Digestibility was however not affected (P>0.05) by the inclusion of Delonix seed meal in the Diets. It was concluded that AFLTDSM could be used as a substitute for GNC in starter Broilers diet without any significant effect on the performance of the birds.