Growth performance, feed utilization and carcass physical properties of broiler chicks fed graded levels of baobab seed meal instead of concentrate

In order to determine the effect of feeding graded levels of baobab seed meal instead of concentrate on feed intake, growth rate, feed conversion rations, and physical properties of carcass of broiler chicks, 144 day old mixed-sex of broiler commercial hybrid chicks Ross 308 were purchased. The chicks were randomly allocated to six treatments groups A, B, C, D, E, and F. Each treatment was allocated 24 chicks with eight chicks per replicate in a completely randomized design (CRD). The inclusion level of replaced concentrate in the diets were 0%, 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% and 5% of baobab seed meal for groups A, B, C, D, E and F, respectively. Birds were weighed at the beginning and weekly up to the end of the experiment at six weeks of age. Three birds per replicate were randomly selected for blood samples and carcass physical characteristics measurements. Results showed significant (p ≤ 0.05) lower live body weight, weekly body weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion rations for group F compared to other groups. However there were no differences between treatments for pH, lightness and yellowness, but significant (p ≤ 0.01) difference for high cooking loss percentage and increased value of redness were recorded for birds in group F compared to birds in other groups. The gross margin analysis showed that the use of baobab seed meal as alternative of broiler concentrate in broiler chick diets reduced the total feed cost. Thus as a valuable local cheap ingredient it could be used up to 4% in broiler diets instead of concentrate to maximize financial returns.