Performance of broiler chickens fed raw jackfruit seed meal (Artocarpus heterophyllus)

Abstract

The effect of raw jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) seed meal (JFM) on performance, nutrient utilization and economics of production was investigated using 144 broiler chickens.The birds were divided into four dietary treatments of 3 replicates and 12 birds per replicate in a completely randomized design. Diet one was soybean based (control) while raw JFM meal was added to diets 2 (T2), 3 (T3) and 4 (T4) at 10, 20 and 30% levels of inclusion of soybean meal in the control diet respectively. At 8 weeks, 2 birds per replicate were used to evaluate nutrient utilization. The growth performance was generally depressed with increased inclusion of raw JFM in the diets. The feed to gain ratio of birds placed on control diet (2.55) and T2 (2.56) were the same (P>0.05) and are significantly better (P < 0.05) than other treatments. Nitrogen, ether extract and ash retention were virtually the same for birds fed T1 T2 and T3 while energy retention was higher (P<0.05) in birds fed T1 (2,82MJ/Kg ME) than those fed T2 , T3 and T4. The cost per Kg feed was higher in T1 (₦131.59) and decreased with increase in inclusion of raw JFM; T2 (₦127.17), T3 (₦123.66) and T4 (₦123.24). Cost per  Kg weight gain, revenue and gross margin were the same for birds fed control and those fed with T2 . From the foregoing raw JFM is a potential feed resource and could be included in the  diet of broiler chicken up to 10% level of inclusion of soybean meal in a control diet.Keywords: Raw jackfruit; performance; broiler chicken; nutrient retention; economic