GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND SERUM BIOCHEMICAL INDICES OF BROILER CHICKEN AS INFLUENCED BY DIETARY INCLUSION OF PICRALIMA NITIDA SEED MEAL.

The use of natural feed additives in poultry industry cannot be overemphasized. Thus a 6 weeks trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary Picralima nitida seed meal (PNSM) as substitute to antimicrobial feed additives on the growth performance and serum biochemical indices of broiler chickens. A total of 256 one-day-old, unsexed Arbor-Acre Plus broiler chicks were randomly allotted into four dietary treatments, replicated eight times with eight birds in a completely randomized design. PNSM was incorporated into the experimental diet at varying levels; 0, 0.25, 0.50 and 1.0 g/100g. Feed and water were offered ad-libitum to the birds for six weeks. Data collected on growth performance and serum biochemical indices were subjected to one-way analysis of variance. Results indicated that dietary PNSM inclusion level significantly (p<0.05) influenced weight gain positively with birds fed 0.5% PNSM having the highest weight gain (1837.43g). However, the addition of PNSM in the broiler diets did not affect serum biochemical indices (liver enzymes, electrolytes and serum lipids) significantly (P>0.05). Total cholesterol (P=0.053) and low-density lipoprotein (P=0.094) levels increases at 0.5% inclusion of PNSM when compared with the control. The supplementation did not significantly (P>0.05) affect serum antioxidant content (total phenols and total flavonoids). It can be concluded that PNSM supplemented at 0.5% in the diets of broiler chicken improved weight gain, better feed conversion ratio and improved the chicken’s serum antioxidants.