GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND CARCASS TRAITS OF BROILER CHICKENS FED DIETARY CITRUS SINENSIS PEEL-BASED DIET

A total of one hundred and ninety- two Cobb 500 day -old broiler chicks were randomly distributed to four experimental diets: control diet (0.00 % dried Citrus sinensis peel (DCSP)), diet B (2.50 % DCSP), diet C (5.00 % DCSP), and diet D (7.50 % DCSP). The birds were fed ad libitum throughout the experiment which lasted for 8 weeks. The inclusion of DCSP (2.50 − 7.50 %) as a replacement for wheat offal in the diet of broiler chickens did not have any significant effect (P > 0.05 %) on the feed intake (FI), body weight gain (BWG), final weight (FWT), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) at the starter phase. However, at the finisher phase and overall period of the experiment, DCSP inclusion into the broiler diet reduced (P < 0.05%) the BWG, FWT, and FCR of the birds at a 7.50 % inclusion level. As the inclusion of DCSP in the diet increased, the growth response criteria (BWG, FWT, FCR) were affected negatively in a progressive trend at a 7.50 % level except for feed intake. Internal organs such as the heart, lung, gizzard, and proventriculus were unaffected (P > 0.05 %) by the varied levels of DCSP inclusions. DCSP inclusion at 2.50 % and 7.50 % levels had a similar impact on the weight of the liver as the control except for birds on diet C whose organ weights were unusually high. There was a gradual reduction in the weight of the pancreas as the dietary inclusion of DCSP increased. However, the dietary DCSP caused an increase in the weight of the spleen which is an indication of immune immune-boosting property of the peel. Judging from the comparable body weight gain and FCR between the control diet and birds fed with diets B and C, dietary inclusion of DCSP could be used up to 5.00 % in broilers diets without any deleterious effects on growth and carcass parameters of broiler chickens.