Feeding Potential of Aquatic Fern-Azolla in Broiler Chicken Ration

Abstract

Accepted: 25/03/2015 Abstract To determine the impact of dietary inclusion of aquatic fern Azolla on profitability of broiler production, a study was conducted with 240 Cobb broiler chicks which were randomly assigned into five groups having three replicates of 16 each. Birds in control (T1) group were fed the basal diet, where as in other groups fish meal was replaced with 5 (T2), 10 (T3), 15 (T4) and 20% (T5) Azolla. Chemical analysis of Azolla revealed the presence of 22.06% crude protein, 3.62% ether extract, 14.3% crude fibre, 33.4 nitrogen free extract, 18.1 % total ash, 2.04% calcium and 0.65% phosphorus on dry matter basis. Highest final body weight (p 0.05) impact was recorded on carcass characteristics. The results indicated that Azolla at 5% inclusion level in broiler chicken ration is highly economical.