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Abstract

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of feeding Cassia obtusifolia leaf meal on growth performance and carcass characteristics of broiler Chickens. Two hundred (200) unsexed day old Marshall Broiler chicks were used for the study. Five diets were formulated such that Cassia obtusifolia leaf meal were used at 0%, 3%, 6%, 9% and 12% designated as treatments T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 respectively. The chicks were weighed and randomly allocated to five dietary treatments replicated four times with ten birds per replicate in completely randomized design. The proximate composition of Cassia obtusifolia showed it contains 93.51% dry matter, 25.44% crude protein, 19.14%, crude fibre, 12.17% ash, 4.06% ether extract and 38.19% nitrogen free extract. The leaf meal also contains saponin (6.26%), phytate (2.97%), tannins (4.52%) and oxalates (2.37%). The result of growth parameters measured were significantly different (P<0.05) except, total feed intake and average daily feed intake. Similarly, live weight, plucked weight, eviscerated weight, carcass weight and dressing percentage did not show any significant difference among treatment groups. The result of the internal organs evaluated showed variation in the weights of pancreas, large and small intestines across the treatments. It was concluded from the results obtained that COLM can be included up to 9% in broiler chickens' diet without adverse effect on the growth performance, carcass and internal organs characteristics.