Effects of Albizia saman seed meal on the haematological and biochemical indices of finisher broiler chickens

Abstract

Albizia saman seeds were collected, soaked in water for twenty-four hours, cooked for one hour, sundried for thirty minutes, toasted under fire till properly dried, toasted and milled to obtain the seed meal. The meal was used in formulating diets for broiler finishers at 0, 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5% inclusion rate tor treatments 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively. The treatment diets were fed to a total of 120, 4-wk old Marshal broilers. The broilers were randomly assigned to the four treatment groups in a complete randomized design at 30 broilers per group which was replicated 3 times to give 10 broilers per replicate. The birds were raised in a deep litter pen. The experiment lasted for 28days. Blood samples were collected and analyzed using auto analyzer. The result for hematological indices showed a significantly different (P<0.05) reduction in the Hemoglobin (Hb), Packed Cell Volume (PCV), Mean Cell Volume (MCV), Mean Cell Hemoglobin (MCH), Mean Cell Hemoglobin Concentration (MCHC) and the White Blood Cells with inclusion of the test ingredient. The Red Blood Cell (RBC), the White Blood Cell differentials and Erythrocytes Sedimentation Rate (ESR) were uniform. For the biochemical indices the proteins, the electrolytes and the liver enzymes were uniform while the kidney functions parameters and Cholesterol showed a significantly (P<0.05) lower results from that obtained from control. The parameters that showed a significant result however, did not indicate a negative influence on the broilers.  It is therefore recommended that Albizia saman seed meal could be included up to 7.5% inclusion level in broiler finisher diet replacing 50% of the soyabean in a maize-soyabean diet.