Growth response, haematological parameters and Carcass characteristics of Broiler chickens fed varied Levels of Bovine blood meal

Abstract

The price hikes of feed ingredients is one of the nightmares of poultry farmers in Ghana. A feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of varied levels of bovine blood meal-based diets on growth response, haematological parameters and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens. Sixty, one week-old broiler chicks were randomly assigned to three treatments (T0, T1, and T2) in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with five replications and four birds per replicate. The experimental diets were, T0 (control diet, 0% bovine blood meal), T1 (1.5% blood meal and 4.5% fish meal) and T2 (3% bovine blood meal and 3% fish meal). Feed and water were offered ad libitum. At the end of experiment, five birds per treatment were randomly selected for carcass assessment. The chemical composition of blood meal showed that it contained 95.34 % dry matter, 84.74% crude protein, 7.21% ether extract and 1.92 % crude fibre. The results showed non-significant (P>0.05) differences in final body weight, average daily feed intake, body weight gain, average daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio except mortality. The results further revealed no significant (P>0.05) differences in all the haematological parameters studied. The results of the carcass examination showed that all the parameters assessed were not affected by dietary treatment with the exception of the back, heart and gizzard. The results showed that bovine blood meal can replace fish meal up to 50% in broiler diets without deleterious effects on growth performance, blood parameters, carcass quality and general well-being of the birds.