HAEMATOVOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF BROILERS FED GRADED LEVELS OF DRY DISTILLED CASSAVA WITH SOLUBLE

Abstract

The haematological and biochemical characteristics of broilers fed graded levels of Dry Distilled Cassava with Soluble (DDCS) were investigated in a 28 day study. One hundred and forty four (144) 5-week old un-sexed Arbor Acre strain broiler chicks of similar average weight were randomly allocated to four dietary treatments. Each treatment had 2 replicates of 18 birds each. Four experimental diets with 0, 4, 8 and 12% inclusion of DDCS were formulated. Feed and water were supplied ad libitum. Four birds from each treatment were randomly selected and blood sample collected for haematological and biochemical evaluation at the termination of experiment. The analysis of blood components, red blood cell (RBC), white blood cell (WBC), packed cell volume (PCV), Mean cell volume (MC V), Mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and Mean cell haemoglobin (MCH) showed no significant (P>0.05) differences among the broilers fed with experimental diets. There were no significant (P>0.05) differences in the biochemical analysis broilers fed different levels of DDCS. It was concluded that DDCS can be included in the diets of broilers up to 12% without any deleterious effect on the haematological and serum biochemical characteristics.