Evaluation of growth performance of broiler chicks fed with raw and processed leucaena leucociphala seed

Fourty-eight broiler chicks (day-old) were used in a 4 weeks feeding experiment to assess the growth response and the performance of broiler chicks fed raw leucaena leucociphala seed meal (rlsm),roasted l. leucociphala seed meal (rolsm) and steamed l. leucociphala seed meal (slsm). the l. leucociphala seed,which serve as a source of protein were subjected to two treatments (roasting and steaming). soybean based diet served as the control. there were four (4) experimental groups,each made up of four birds in three replicates allocated to the experimental diets. the results showed that the average final live weight,average weekly weight gain and average feed intake of birds fed with rolsm performed better than birds fed with rlsm and slsm. it was observed that the percentage organ to body weight of birds fed with the processed lsm were significantly (p < 0.05),higher as compared to the rlsm. a significant (p < 0.05) increase in the activity of aspartate transferase in the organs (heart,kidney and liver) of broilers fed with rolsm was observed as compared to those fed with rlsm. the results showed a significant (p < 0.05),reduction in the activity of alanine transferase of organs of broilers chicks fed with processed l. leucociphala compared to the control. it is therefore,concluded that the processing techniques applied were able to improve the nutritional quality of l. leucociphala seed meal but relatively lower to the soybean based meal.