Effect of replacing full-fat soybean meal with undefatted cashew reject kernel meal on the growth response, blood parameters, organ weight and abdominal fat weight of broiler chicks

• Published in: Animal Science and Genetics Vol. 18; no. 4; pp. 33 - 45
• Main Authors: Ojediran, Taiwo, Olagoke, Olayemi, Emiola, Adewale
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 31.12.2022
• ISSN: 2720-6076; 2720-6076
• DOI: 10.5604/01.3001.0016.1380

This preliminary feeding trial examined the effects of replacing full-fat soybean meal with undefatted cashew reject kernel meal on the growth response, blood parameters, organ weight and abdominal fat of broiler chicks. Three hundred 1-day-old unsexed Arbor-acre strain broiler chicks stochastically assigned in a completely randomized design to five dietary class of sixty birds each replicated six times in a 21-day feeding trial. The control diet (T1) was a maize- full-fat soybean meal (SBM) based diet. Undefatted cashew reject kernel meal (UCRKM) was used to replace 12.50 %, 25.00 %, 37.50 % and 50.00 % full-fat SBM in the control diet, and were referred to as diets T2, T3, T4 and T5 correspondingly. The chemical composition revealed that UCRKM contained 26.56 % crude protein, 3.30 % crude fibre, 2.99 % ash, 35.05 % ether extract, 23.07 % nitrogen-free extract and 4285.76 kcal kg-1 metabolizable energy. Significant disparities (P ≤ 0.05) were noticed in growth parameters with feed conversion ratio similar to those on T1 up to 50 % substitution. The red blood cell count, mean corpusculars, platelet count, alanine amino transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, creatinine, internal organ weights were influenced (P ≤ 0.05) except the liver and abdominal fat. UCRKM is therefore recommended as a replacement for up to 50.00 % full-fat SBM in broiler starter diets.