CARCASS QUALITY OF BROILER FINISHER FED VARYING LEVELS OF CASSAVA (Manihot esculenta) PEEL MEAL SUPPLEMENTED WITH ENZYME AS REPLACEMENT FOR WHEAT BRAN

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to evaluate carcass characteristics of broiler finisher chickens fed graded levels of cassava peel meal supplemented with enzyme as partial replacement for wheat bran. A total of 144 one day-old broiler chicks of Abore acre strain were assigned to5 experimental diets in a completely randomized design. The birds were fed graded levels (0, 10, 20, 30, and 40% at finisher phase and the treatments were coded as T1, T2 T3, T4, and T5 respectively). At 56 days, birds were fasting for 12 hours, weighed, tagged and slaughtered by jugular dislocation, de-feathered, eviscerated and cut into different parts and weighed by sensitive scale, thereafter, cut parts were analyzed by using SPSS version 21. There were significant (p<0.05) differences on live weight, head, neck, wings, breast, drumsticks, thigh, shank and back. Broiler finisher chickens fed 10% sundried cassava peel meal (SCPM) had the highest (2040.00g) live weight while birds on 40% SCPM presented the least (1267.00g). Birds fed the control diet 0% SCPM recorded the highest (p<0.05) weight on head (78.67g), neck (84.67g), wings (194.67g), breast (539.00g), drumsticks (257.67g), thigh (274.67g), shank (102.00g) and back (370.00g) Birds fed 30% SCPM showed least (55.00 and 204.00g) significant (p<0.05) values of neck and back respectively. Conclusively, feeding broiler finisher chickens with graded levels of sundried cassava peel meal supplemented with enzyme did not influence birds’ carcass indices.