Use of DietaryLeucaena l eucocephala Leaf Meal in Pellet Form on ProductionPerformance and Carcass Quality of Broiler Chickens

Abstract

      This study was to investigate the production performance and carcass quality of broilers supplemented with LLM in form of dietary pellet, at the levels of 0% (control), 5% and 10%. The total of 120, one-day old Ross 308 broiler chicks, were randomly assigned to 3 groups with 4 replicates of 10 chicks (5 males, 5 females) in CRD. The study was conducted for 42 days. At the end of the study, 4 chicks were randomly selected from each group (male chicks from rep No. 1 and 2, females from rep No. 3 and 4). The result revealed that during starter period (chicks age 1-21 days old), groups fed with 5% and 10% LLM showed significantly higher BWG, ADG and FI than the control group (p < 0.05). In the finisher period (during 22-42 days old) and throughout the experiment (during 1-42 days old), the group that was fed with 10% LLM showed higher production performance than other groups, except for FCR and mortality rate in all stages. However, 5% and 10% LLM in diet caused higher FCG (1.45-4.08 Baht/kg weight gain) than the control group. There was no significant difference in carcass quality, except for thigh meat which was significantly higher in the group that fed with 10% LLM than the control and 5% LLM groups (p < 0.05)