Response of Broiler Chickens to Dietary Inclusion of Alternanthera Sessilis Leaf Meal (ASLM)

Two phases of experiment were conducted with the aim of assessing the possibility of using dried Alternanthera sessilis leaf meal (ASLM) in broiler starter and finisher diets. Five diets were prepared with ASLM inclusion levels of 0 (T0), 0.50 (T1), 0.75 (T2), 1.0 (T3) and 1.25 g/kg (T4) and 225 Cobb commercial broiler birds were used in each experiment. The ASLM substituted varying levels of soya bean meal and wheat bran. Complete Randomised Design was used for the study. The nutritional composition of ASLM on dry matter basis were: proximate (895.0 g/kg dry matter, 299.4 g/kg CP, 615.0 g/kg EE, 155.5 g/kg CF and 173.2 g/kg ash) and minerals (2.9 g/kg P, 52.8 g/kg K, 15.7 g/kg Na, 48.0 g/kg Ca, 17.0 g/kg Mg and 1.90 mg/kg Fe) with metabolisable energy (ME) of 2697.25 Kcal/kg. In Phase One, as the inclusion level of ASLM increased morbidity and mortalities increased even though there were no significant (P > 0.05) differences among treatment means. In Phase One, T4 was significant (P < 0.05) from the other dietary treatments with respect to feed intake. With respect to weight gain, only T4 showed significant (P < 0.05) difference amongst the dietary treatments (Phase Two). Dietary treatments did exert significant (P < 0.05) differences on some of the carcass parameters measured. Significant (P < 0.05) differences were observed in the Hb levels of birds between T1 and T3. The WBC profile indicated that there were significant (P < 0.05) differences in values obtained from T0 birds and those fed the ASLM containing diet. Treatment diet had significant (P < 0.05) differences in the low-density lipoprotein and albumen during initial and final blood biochemical analysis. It can be concluded that Alternanthera sessilis leaf meal has good nutritional composition and can be included in broiler finisher diet up to 0.50 g/kg without any deleterious effect on growth performance.