Response of broiler chickens to substitution of vitamin-mineral premix with Carica papaya seed meal

Abstract

The study investigated the physiological response of broiler chickens to substitution of commer-cial vitamin-mineral premix with Carica papaya seed meal (CPS). Two hundred and twenty four (224) mixed sexes Abor – acre day old chicks were subjected to trial for 6 weeks. Data were collected on performance, haematology, serum biochemistry, serum electrolytes and organ morphology. The birds were randomly assigned to 7 dietary treatments: T1: control with commercial vitamin-mineral-premix (VMP) at 0.3% only, T2, 0.05% CPS + 0.25 VMP, T3 0.20 VMP + 0.1 CPS, T4 0.15 VMP + 0.15 CPS, T5 0.10 VMP + 0.2 CPS, T6 0.05 VMP + 0.25 CPS and T7 0.3 CPS. Treatments composed of 4 replica-tions with 8 birds per replicate. Results indicated that significant differences (p0.05) while at the finisher phase, the inclusion of Carica papaya seed meal significantly influenced (p0.05) in serum biochemistry parameters at the starter phase except for alanine transaminase (ALT) with significantly higher (p0.05) for kidney, liver and spleen. The use of CPS did not impair nutrient utilization neither does it have any adverse effect on the health status of the broiler chickens, hence the use of CPS may be considered as substitute for vitamin-mineral premix in broiler chickens nutrition.

Keywords

• physiological response
• carica papaya seed meal
• substitution
• vitamin-mineral pre-mix