Feeding Fermented Mixture of Cassava Pulp and Moringa oleifera Leaf Meal: Effect on Growth, Internal Organ and Carcass of Broiler Chickens

The experiment aimed to evaluate the impact of feeding fermented mixture of cassava pulp and Moringa oleifera leaf meal (MOLF) on growth, internal organ and carcass of broilers. The fermented feedstuff was prepared by fermenting the cassava pulp (60%) and MOLF (35%) using the starter of Chrysonilia crassa (5%). Four hundred Lohmann broiler chicks (a week of age with initial body weight [BW] of 172 ± 2.50 g) were grouped to CONT (chicks received corn-soybean-based diet), BACI (corn-soybean-based diet supplemented with 0.1% antibiotic), FERM (diet containing 20% of the fermented mixture of cassava pulp and MOLF) and FERB (diet containing 20% of the fermented mixture of cassava pulp and MOLF and supplemented with 0.1% probiotic Bacillus subtilis). The BW and intake were weekly recorded. At day 35, one chick from each replicate was obtained, slaughtered and de-feathered. The internal organs and carcass were weighed and breast meat was obtained for colour determination. Throughout the study, the variation in body weight gain (BWG) was not observed across the groups, but FERM and FERB had higher (p0.05) in the carcass yield among the group of diets. In conclusion, feeding the mixture of cassava pulp and MOLF did not compromise growth performance but increased FCR of broiler chickens. Feeding the fermented product lowered abdominal fat weight and improved the colour of broiler meats