Abstract :
The nutritive and anti-nutritive components of raw Detarium microcarpum seed meals (DSM), and its’ im-pact on performance and blood constituents were investigated in broilers. Day-old broilers (n=225) were randomly assigned to five treatments at graded levels of 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20% DSM in a completely ran-domized design. Feed and water were given ad libitum till 56 days. The analyzed DSM contained 26.5% crude protein, 11.1% crude fibre, 15.2% ether extracts, 3.5% ash and 33.1% NFE. Anti nutritional compo-nents of DSM contained 13.1% tannin, 9.6% saponins, 16.4% oxalate, 25.5% phytic acid and 5.1% hydro-gen cyanides. Weight gain and FCR were linearly decreased with increased inclusion of DSM. Haemato-logical and serum biochemical indices of birds fed 10, 15 and 20% diets were decreased (P < 0.05) compared with those fed 5% and control diets. Inclusion of 5% DSM in broiler chicks’ diet had no adverse effect on blood constituents. DSM needs processing to improve inclusion levels beyond 5% in broilers’ diets.
