Effects of dietary inclusion of avocado seed meal (Persea americana) on the carcass yield and haematological profile of broiler chickens

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of Avocado Seed Meal (ASM) on the haematological parameters as well as the carcass yield of broilers. One hundred and twenty, one day-old broiler chicks of the cobb breed were used for this experiment. The chicks were allocated to four different treatments T T , T and T fed with diets containing 0%, 0.5%, 1, 2 3 4 1.0% and 1.5% ASM, respectively. The experiment lasted for a period of eight weeks and thedata obtained were statistically analyzed. The result showed that the live weight and carcass weight of the birds were not significantly (P>0.05) affected by the experimental diet. Feed cost (N/kg) and feed cost per weight gain (N/kg gain) were highest in the control treatment which decreased as the level of ASM in the diet increased. The result also showed significant difference (P<0.05) in the WBC, platelets, neutrophils and lymphocytes while the RBC, PCV,Hb, MCV and MCH did not differ significantly (P>0.05). The results of this study showed that ASM can be incorporated up to 1.5% (15g/kg feed) of the feed, without any deleterious effect on the haematology of the birds.