GROWTH PERFORMANCE, CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS, NUTRIENT METABOLIZABILITY, INTESTINAL MORPHOMETRY AND SERUM BIOCHEMISTRY OF KUROILER CHICKEN FED DIET WITH MULBERRY LEAVES

mulberry leaves yield high-quality forage characterized by enhanced digestibility and palatability, making them a viable alternative feed resource. in this regard, the present study is designed to evaluate the effects of mulberry leaf meal (mlm) on growth performance, carcass characteristics, nutrient metabolizability, serum biochemistry and intestinal morphometry of Kuroiler chicken. 200 Kuroiler birds were divided into four dietary treatment groups with 50 birds in each in a completely randomized design (crd). the basal diet having wheat bran was replaced with mbl at the rate of 0%, 50%, 70% and 100% in the control, t1, t2, t3 groups, respectively. each group was sub-divided into 5 replicates with 10 birds in each at random. The experiment was conducted for 6 weeks. There was significant effect (p<0.05) on body weight gain in t1 group and that was comparable with control group. compared to control, feed intake was increased (p>0.05) in all replacement groups. Among the treated groups, better (p<0.05) feed conversion ratio was observed in t1 . no remarkable changes (p>0.05) were observed on serum biochemical parameters. no discernible differences were observed on carcass characteristics however supplementation of 70% mbl, significantly decreased (p<0.05) the relative gizzard yield. Metabolizability of dry matter, crude protein and ether extract significantly decreased in T2 and t3 group. Profit per kg live weight was higher (p<0.05) in 50% mbl fed group. thus, it is concluded that, on economic production point of view, wheat bran can be effectively replaced by mulberry leaves up to 50% level for clean Kuroiler chicken production without affecting production performances.