STUDIES ON THE NUTRITIONAL AND ANTI-MICROBIAL EFFECTS OF MORINGA OLEIFERA LEAF MEAL ON CHICKEN BROILERS AND LAYING HENS

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Experiments were conducted to evaluate the nutritional and anti-microbial effects of dietary Moringa oleifera leaf meal (MOLM) in broilers and laying hens. Proximate analysis of the leaf meal showed that it contained 23.25% CP, 13.19% CF, 6.93% EE, 6.4% Ash and 47.10% NFE on dry matter basis. In the chicken broiler experiment, five broiler starter (23% CP) and five finisher (19% CP) diets were formulated to contain Moringa oleifera leaf meal at dietary levels of 0%, 2.5%, 5.0%, 7.5% and 10% which were designated as T1T2, T3, T4, and T5, respectively. Five groups of 40 day old Anak chicken broilers were assigned to the five treatment diets in a completely randomized design (CRD) experiment. Each treatment was replicated four times consisting of 10 birds per replicate and fed for 49 days. At the starter phase, average final body weight gain indicated no significant (P>0.05) treatment effect. Feed conversion ratio was significantly (P