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Haematological response of starter broiler chickens fed diets containing graded levels of dried watermelon peel meal
Department of Agricultural Education, Adamu Augie College of Education, P.M.B 1012 Argungu, Kebbi State, Nigeria.
Research Article
International Journal of Science and Research Archive, 2024, 13(01), 1905–1909.
Article DOI: 10.30574/ijsra.2024.13.1.1824
Publication history:
Received on 18 August 2024; revised on 01 October 2024; accepted on 03 October 2024
Abstract:
The experiment was carried out to assess the hematological parameters of starter broiler chickens fed feed formulated with dried watermelon peel meal (DWPM). Ninety-six 21-day old broiler chickens were randomly assigned into four (4) treatments of twenty-four (24) birds each containing 0, 10, 20 and 30% DWPM and coded as D1, D2, D3 and D4 respectively in a completely randomized design (CRD). Each treatment groups were further sub-divided into four (4) sub-groups of eight (8) birds to serve as replicate. At the end of the experiment, one bird per replicate was selected for blood analysis. Packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin (Hb), white blood cells (WBC), red blood cells (RBC), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), platelets concentration (PC), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), granulocyte and lymphocyte were measured. Results showed that the DWPM diet had no effect (P>0.05) on PCV, Hb, WBC, RBC, MCV, MCH, PC and MCHC. All mean values for the haematological parameters are above the normal range except WBC and RBC. In conclusion, the lack of significant effect suggests that, DWPM can be safely incorporated up to 12.5% in to the diets of starter broiler chicks without adverse haematological consequences. Nevertheless, careful consideration should be given to ensuring optimal nutritional balance and health status in broiler flocks.
Keywords:
Watermelon; Chickens; Diet; PCV; Haemoglobin; RBC
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Copyright © 2024 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0
