CARCASS YIELD AND GUT CHARACTERISTICS OF BROILER CHICKENS FED GRADED DIETARY LEVELS OF SUN DRIED SWEET POTATO MEAL DIETS

Abstract

A feeding trial was conducted at the poultry research and teaching farm of Federal College of Horticulture Dadin- kowa, Gombe state to evaluate the effect of sun dried sweet potato meal on the growth performance of broiler chickens they were fed sun dried sweet potato meal S.S.P.M which replaced
maize at 0,20,40,60, and 80% levels designated as diet 1,2,3,4, and 5 respectively. Two hundred day- old broiler chickens were randomly allotted into five dietary treatments with forty chickens per treatment replicated four times in a completely randomized design. Feed and water were supplied ad-libitum and the duration of the trial lasted for eight weeks. The result indicates that all carcass and gut characteristics measured were not influence by the level of
sun dried sweet potato meal S.S.P.M. It was concluded that S.S.P.M can replace maize as energy source in the diet of broiler chickens up to 80% with no adverse effects on the carcass yield and gut characteristic.