University Publications

The objective of the study was to assess the response of broiler chicken to different levels of boiled cowpea seeds (Vigna unguiculata) as replacer for super-concentrate. Growth performance, carcass characteristics, chemical and physical composition of broilers meat and economical appraisal were studied. Two hundred one-day-old un-sexed Ross (308) chicks were used in a complete randomized design. Cowpea seeds replaced super-concentrate at (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100%). Chicks were randomly allotted to five dietary treatments; each of them was further divided into 4 replicates of 10 birds each. The chicks were reared from one-day to six weeks of age in an open-sided poultry house. The chicks were placed in 20 pens (1×1m) with wood shavings litter. Five isonitrogenous starter and finisher diets were formulated according to National Research Council (NRC, 1994). Overall feed intake, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio (FCR) and protein efficiency ratio (PER) were significantly (P≤0.05) worsened for birds on total replacement of super-concentrate by boiled cowpea seeds. Replacement of super-concentrate by 0, 25 and 50% boiled cowpea seeds showed no significant ((P≥0.05) effect on overall feed intake, body weight gain, FCR, PER, weight of half carcass, absolute weight of abdominal fat, thigh weight, drumstick weight, back weight, breast muscle weight, breast bone weight, drumstick muscle weight and drumstick fat weight. Moisture content, water holding capacity (WHC) and cooking loss of broiler meat were linearly increased with the increased level of replacement. However, CP, EE, and Ash were decreased as the level of replacement increased. The best economic efficiency index (EEI) and the least cost index (CI) were achieved by birds on 25% level of replacement. It could be concluded that boiled cowpea seeds could be used to replace super-concentrate in broiler chicken diets up to 50% without deleterious effect on performance.