CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS OF BROILER CHICKENS FED GRADED LEVELS OF PROCESSED MANGO SEED KERNEL MEAL

Abstract

The study was conducted at the Poultry Unit of Federal University, Kashere to investigate the effects of incorporating differently processed mango seed kernel meal i.e. toasted mango seed kernel meal (TMSKM) and fermented mango seed kernel meal (FMSKM) as partial replacement for maize in the diets of broiler chicken on carcass composition.. A total of 180 broiler chickens with similar weights were randomly allotted to six dietary treatments. The treatment group are toasted 0, 10 and 20% plus fermented at 0, 10 and 20% levels of inclusion coded as diet 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 respectively, in a completely randomized design (CRD).At the end of the experiment, two birds were randomly selected from each of the 18 replicates of each treatment to determine the carcass characteristics. Carcass quality was determined by measuring the live weight of representative chicken and then slaughtering to drain the blood and Plucked, eviscerated and carcass weights was determined. De-feathering follows by dipping them in hot water at 80⁰C for 10-15 minutes. Then cut-up parts and visceral organs were also weighed. Carcass characteristics such as carcass yield, cut-up parts and guts dimension of broiler chickens were measured to determine the effects of incorporating the differently processed mango seed kernel meal on the carcass characteristics of broiler chicken. Furthermore, organs such as the heart, liver, kidney, spleen, and gizzard were found to be significantly (p<0.05) affected. These differences did not follow a regular pattern, suggesting that they were unlikely to be influenced solely by the dietary treatments. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that TMSKM and FMSKM be included in broiler chicken diets up to 20% level without adversely affecting carcass and organ weights. The study recommended 20% level of inclusion of processed mango seed kernel in the diets of broiler chicken and also that further study should employ other processing methods