GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF BROILERS USING Moringa oleifera LEAVES AS A FEED ADDITIVE

Growth performance of broilers using Moringa oleifera leaves as an addictive on their diet was investigated. Thirty mixed-sex one day- old chicks were sourced locally and examined for 16 months. The phytochemical analysis of the Moringa oleifera leaves examined indicated the presence of tannins, terpenoids, saponins, flavonoids, cardiac glycosides, phlobatannins, alkaloids, resins, glycosides and anthraquinones. The experimental birds were subjected to three treatments with two replicates per treatment. There were five birds in each replicate with treatments T1 (control) containing no addictive; T2 contains 2% addictive and T3 with 4% addictives in their diets. At the end of the experiment, the weights of the broilers were of the range 1.9 – 2.0 kg/bird for T1, 2.1 – 2.4 kg/bird for T2 and 2.4 – 2.7 kg/bird for T3. The relative organ weights recorded the means 1.3, 0.9, 0.6 and 2.4 kg for carcass, thigh, wing bow and whole body respectively. The increase in body and relative organs weights of the broilers in T2 and T3 compared to T1 revealed that incorporation of Moringa oleifera leaves in the diets of broilers as an addictive enhances the metabolism and digestion of the feed diets and increases their growth performance.