Effect of Graded Levels of Dried Pawpaw (Carica papaya) Seed on the Performance, Haematology, Serum Biochemistry and Carcass Evaluation of Chicken Broilers

Abstract

A feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effect of graded levels of Dried Pawpaw Seed (DPS) on growth performance, haematological parameters and carcass evaluation of chicken broilers. One hundred day-old broilers were randomly divided into four treatments groups of diets containing 0, 5, 10 and 15% DPS in a Completely Randomized Designed (CRD) for a period of six weeks. The results of thi s experiments showed that there were significant differences (p>0.05) in feed intake and weight gain across the dietary treatment with diet containing 5% DPS having the highest weight gain of 17.58g/bird/day, while birds fed diets with 15% DPS had the lowest weight gain (11.18 g/bird/day), nutrient utilization was higher in birds fed 5% DPS. There were significant differences (p<0.05) in the haematological parameters, serum biochemistry and carcass parameters across the dietary treatment. The results of this study indicate that DPS can be included in broiler diet at 5% level.