Response in Growth Performance and Yield of Broilers Fed on Processed Acacia Tortilis Seed Meal as a Replacement of Soya Bean Meal

Abstract

Livestock provide food to humans and income to producers. Chicken and their products provide 28 per cent of all meat globally. Chicken producers are always looking for new feed ingredients for use in feed formulations. In Arid and Semi-Arid Lands of Kenya, Acacia tortilis trees grow in the rangeland and produce large quantities of seeds during the dry season. The leaves and pods are eaten by ruminants and hence, presents an opportunity to fed chicken. There exists no empirical evidence on the potential of Acacia tortilis as an economically viable feeding option for poultry. The aim of study was to determine the response in growth performance and yield of broilers fed on processed acacia tortilis seed meal as a replacement of soya bean meal. The processed Acacia tortilis seeds were sent to the laboratory for proximate analysis and used to formulate the experimental diet. Ninety broiler chicks of mixed sex and uniform age were purchased from a reputable firm. The chicks were reared in a house where heat was provided using 100 watts bulbs and withdrawn when birds had grown feathers. The chicks were fed on broiler starter from day 1 to day 7, after which the experimental diet was fed for 28 days. The study employed a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The chicks were randomly assigned to six treatments with three replicates, five birds per unit. The following were the feed replacement levels; (T0-Control 0% acacia + 100% Soybean, T1-20% acacia + 80% soybean, T2- 40% acacia + 60% soybean, T3- 60% acacia + 40% soybean, T4 - 80% acacia + 20% soybean and T5 - 100% acacia +0% soybean) in a deep litter rearing system. Feed and water were provided adlibitum. Weighing of chicks and leftover feed was done weekly and records kept. Data collected was summarized and organized in excel. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was done using SPSS software version 20. The results indicated that, the mean initial weight was not significant (p > 0.05). Mean daily weight gain (DWG), mean weight gain change mean and final weight gain (FWG) were statistically significant (p < 0.05)), whereby, 20% Acacia as replacement of soybean meal had the highest performance. The mean voluntary feed intake (VFI) was not significant (p > 0.05). on feed conversion ratio there aws statistically significant difference (p < 0.05). The carcass characteristics in relation to the weight of the bird, there was no significance difference (p > 0.05).On economic benefit there was no significance difference in feed input and cost (p > 0.05), but there was significant difference in biomass harvested and value of biomass (p < 0.05) where T1 was the highest in the two attributes. Incidence cost was significance (p < 0.05). The Profit index was significant (p < 0.05) where the T1 had the highest value of 1.5. The study recommends that Acacia tortilis seed meal can be incorporated in chicken diet at 40% as a substitute of Soybean meal but optimally at 20%.