Performance and Cost Benefit of Organic Acid Supplementation in Broiler Diets Containing Graded Levels of Soaked <i>Balanite Aegyptiaca</i> Fruit Meal

Abstract

Balanite aegyptiaca fruit meal (BAFM) is an alternative feed source that requires processing and supplementation with additives to enhance its utilization in broiler diets. A total of one hundred and twenty (120) day old broiler chickens were used for the study. They were allotted to four experimental treatments each replicated thrice with ten (10) chickens per replicate in a completely randomized design. Raw BAFM fruit was processed by soaking for 24 hours, dried and incorporated in the diets at 0.00, 2.50, 5.00 and 7.50% in T1, T2, T3 and T4 respectively. Acidifier (Fysal®) was supplemented in the diets of T2-T4 at 0.1%. The study monitored the following parameters; initial weight, final weight, weight gain, feed efficiency, and mortality rate. Cost benefit was also determined at the end of the study. Results obtained indicate that growth performance was poorer in chickens fed the control diet compared to others. Starter-phase chicks fed diets with the highest BAFM dietary inclusion level (7.5%) exhibited enhanced weight gain, improved feed conversion efficiency, and reduced feed cost per unit weight gain, while the pooled performance showed that the parameters declined at 7.5%. Cost benefit showed that feed cost per kilogram gain reduced up to 5% inclusion level of BAFM in the diets while it slightly increased at 7.5%, though better than the control group. At 5% dietary inclusion of BAFM with acidifier supplementation, feed cost per kilogram gain reduced by ₦95.22 (18.49%). Based on the results obtained in this study, it was concluded that soaked BAFM and acidifiers are good supplements that can be utilized in broiler diets at 5.0% and 0.1% respectively.