Growth performance and nutrient digestibility of broiler finishers fed fermented Mucuna pruriens Seed Meal

This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of fermented Mucuna Seed Meal (FMSM) on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility and haematological parameters of broiler finisher chicks. In a four-week feeding trial, four hundred and fifty (450) 4-week old broiler chicks were randomly allocated to five experimental diets in a completely randomized design (CRD). Each treatment was replicated thrice having thirty (30) birds per pen. Fermented Mucuna seed meal was prepared and fed in graded levels of 0.0% (control diet), 5.0%, 10.0%, 15.0%, and 20.0%FMSM. Feed and water were given to the birds ad libitum. The parameters measured and include final weight, weight gain, feed intake, feed to gain ratio and feed cost per kilogram gain. Digestibility of dry matter, crude protein; crude fibre, ash, nitrogen free extract and ether extract were also deter-mined. The data collected were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA).The results showed that dietary levels of FMSM had significant (P<0.05) effect on these parameters. The final weight, the weight gain and feed intake of the birds fed 0.0%, 5.0%% 10% and 15.0% FMSM were statistically (P>0.05) similar but significantly (P<0.05) higher than those of 20%FMSM. Cost of feed per bird and feed cost per kilogram weight gain were lower for all FMSM diets. Digestibility of nutrients was better for the birds fed the control, 5.0, 10.0 and 15.0%FMSM based diets. There were no sig-nificant differences (P>0.05) between the treatment means for packed cell volume (PCV), heamoglobin (Hb) and total protein (Tp).It was concluded that inclusion of FMSM in the diets of broiler finisher chicks up to15% has no deleterious effect on growth performance, haematological parameters and nutrient digestibility of the birds