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Abstract

Two hundred (200) day-old broiler chicks were used to evaluate the effects of graded levels of fermented Jatropha curcas seed meal on growth performance, carcass yield and internal organ characteristics of broiler chickens. The chicks were randomly assigned to five dietary treatments consisting of four replicates of ten birds per replicate in a completely randomized design. The dietary treatments were the inclusion levels of fermented Jatropha curcas meal at 0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7% and 10%. Data were collected for eight weeks on feed intake, weight gain and feed conversion ratio. At the end of the experiment, 8 birds were randomly selected from each treatment and slaughtered to determine the effect of graded levels of fermented Jatropha curcas seed meal on carcass yield and internal organs characteristics. The result of growth performance revealed that all parameters measured were significantly (P<0.05) influenced by the dietary treatments except FCR. Carcass yield and internal organs characteristics were significantly different (P<0.05) across the treatment groups except for large intestine weight. Birds on 2.5% replacement level gave better weight gain than other treatments that contain fermented Jatropha seed meal.