Nutritional Evaluation of Azolla pinnata Meal in Broiler Chicken Diets

This study was carried out to evaluate the nutritional value of Azolla pinnata meal (AZM) in broiler chickens’ diets.

The experiment was laid in a completely randomized design comprising a total of one hundred and sixty Cobb 500 strain of day-old broiler chicks which were randomly assigned into 4 dietary treatment groups with 4 replications, comprising 10 birds per replicate for a six-week duration. The iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous diets were tested at 0, 10, 20 and 30% levels of AZM inclusion designated as T₁, T₂, T₃ and T₄ respectively. The experimental diets were offered ad libitum throughout the trial. At the end of the feeding trial, one bird per replicate was selected for carcass evaluation. Proximate compositions of AZM and meat samples were determined. Data generated were statistically assessed by Analysis of Variance.

Proximate analysis of AZM revealed crude protein, crude fibre, ether extract and total ash values of 22.5, 7.37, 3.59 and 19.46, respectively. Results also showed no significant difference (P>0.05) in live weight gain but, feed intake significantly differed (P<0.05) with T₁ having the highest value of 2.91 kg/bird and T₄ recorded the least value of 1.80 kg/bird. The feed conversion ratio was also found to be statistically (P<0.05) lower in T₄ and highest in T₁ group. The inclusion of AZM in the diets did not (P>0.05) influence the carcass and internal organs characteristics except for empty gizzard. However, the crude protein content of broiler meat was improved significantly at T₂ 10% AZM level.