Growth performance and economic characteristics of broiler chickens fed diets containing varying levels of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) milling waste at the starter phase

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of feeding diets containing varying inclusion levels of cowpea milling waste (CMW) on the growth performance and economic characteristics of broiler chicken at the starter phase. A total of 180 one-week-old Arbor Acre broiler chicks were used for the Study; they were randomly allotted into three dietary treatments, T1, T2 and T3 containing 0, 20 and 40 % dietary inclusion level of CMW respectively. Each treatment was replicated thrice and made up of 20 birds per replicate. The birds were fed ad-libitum for three weeks under a deep litter management system and data collected on their growth performance. Results show that though there were no significant (p>0.05) differences in body weight gain and feed conversion ratio among the dietary treatments, T3 (having 40 % dietary inclusion level of CMW) showed a slightly better performance over the Control Diet (T1) with feed conversion ratio of 2.72 and final body weight of 583.33g.On the economic analysis, cost savings per kg was highest for T3, followed by T2. Therefore, it can be concluded that CMW can be included up to 40 % in the diets of broiler starter as a protein and energy source with no detrimental effect on their growth performance and economic characteristics.