PROXIMATE COMPOSITION OF THE TIBIA AND FEMUR BONES OF BROILER BREEDERS FED SUPPLEMENTAL LEVELS OF ACETYLSALICYLIC ACID.

Abstract

Leg deformity is one of the causes of poor breeding soundness of the male breeder cock. Deficiency of the diets in the required nutrients needed for maintaining the integrity of the tibias and femora – the two main bones of the leg saddled with weight bearing function in bipeds is often responsible for this deformity. This problem may be exacerbated in diets with inclusion or supplementation of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) because of the link between this drug and bone physiology. This experiment was therefore conducted to investigate the effects of supplemental levels of ASA on proximate composition of the tibias and femora of Marshall Broiler breeder cocks. Four standard breeder cocks diets labelled D1, D2, D3 and D4 were
formulated and supplemented with 0.00 0.05, 0.10 and 0.15% of ASA respectively. These diets were fed to 24 Marshall breeder cockerels throughout the sixteen weeks of the experiment during which the crude protein, moisture, ash, fat and organic matter contents of the tibia and femur bones of the cockerels were determined. Results showed that the moisture content of the tibias decreased while those of the femora increased with increase in the level of ASA supplementation. The crude protein content of both bones was depressed (P<0.05) at 0.15% ASA relative to the control but the bone ash content was lowest at 0.10% (P<0.05) ASA supplementation. The lowest organic matter content for both bones was observed in birds
fed the 0.15% ASA supplementation. Supplemental ASA levels decreased bone fat content of the femur while a significant decrease with ASA supplementation relative to the control was only observed at 0.15% level in the tibia bones. In conclusion, ASA supplementation of Marshall Broiler breeder’s diets could depress the crude protein, fat and organic matter contents of the tibia and femur beyond 0.10% level.