Nutritional implications of Cassoya diet supplemented with protease enzyme on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, haematology and serum of broiler finisher chickens

Abstract

This study evaluated the implications of cassoya-based nutrition (mixture of cassava root meal and full-fat soybean in ratio 40:60) supplemented with protease enzyme on growth performance and nutrient digestibility of broiler finisher chickens. Three hundred three weeks old ROSS 308 broiler starter chicks were placed on 6 dietary treatments for 3 weeks; in 5 replicates of 10 birds each. The first to third treatments had cassoya inclusion levels of 0, 50 and 100 % without enzyme while treatments 4 to 6 had protease enzyme supplementation at 10 g/tonne. Data collected were analyzed using Analysis of Variance in a Completely Randomized form. The diets supplemented with protease enzyme significantly improved (P<0.05) all the measured parameters except protein efficiency ratio. Treatments had significant (p<0.05) effects on all haematological parameters except packed cell volume and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration. Serum metabolites were significantly influenced by cassoya supplemented with enzyme. Birds efficiently utilized the feeds with 50% cassoya maize replacement inclusion without any detrimental effect and at a reduced cost of production. Cassoya diet at 50% level of inclusion with enzyme supplementation in broiler finisher diet is recommended for improvement of growth performance and nutrient digestibility