Abstract:
Indigenous chicken (IC) contribute significantly as a source of animal protein to human population. However, productivity in Kenya is low due to inadequate supply of quality feed and high cost of commercial feeds. Moringa leaf meal (MOLM) is a locally available feed resource that can be utilized by chicken, however high fibre content in the meal leads to its low digestibility. This study tested the hypothesis that treatment of MOLM by fermentation with and without Saccharomyces cerevisiae and enzyme treatment would improve digestibility and thus improve performance of improved indigenous grower chicken. Data for the in-vitro digestibility and feeding trial was analyzed using the general linear model (GLM) procedure of the statistical analysis system version 9.1. Significant means were separated using Tukey‟s test at (p<0.05). In experiment one, the chemical composition, in-vitro dry matter and crude protein digestibilities of untreated, fermented and enzyme-treated MOLM were determined. Data was collected through an in-vitro digestibility procedure in a completely randomized design. In the fermented MOLM the content of crude protein significantly increased relative to the unfermented. The crude fibre, neutral detergent fibre, acid detergent fibre, acid detergent lignin, cellulose and hemi-cellulose content were significantly lower (p<0.05) in enzyme-treated MOLM relative to control. The in-vitro dry matter digestibility of enzyme-treated MOLM (60.3) was significantly different (p<0.05) compared with control (53.6%). Crude protein digestibility of enzyme-treated MOLM (63.1) was significantly different (p<0.05) compared to control (42.5). In experiment two, ninety (90) improved indigenous grower chicken were assigned to six treatment diets in a completely randomised design with a factorial arrangement where each treatment was replicated three times with 5 chicken per replicate. The feed intake decreased significantly (p<0.05) with the increasing level of MOLM in comparison to control. The ADG of the chicken fed 40% MOLM diets decreased significantly (p<0.05) compared to the control. There was a significant reduction (p<0.05) in the point of lay of the chicken fed enzyme- treated MOLM-based diets in comparison to control. The study concluded that enzyme pre-treatment was superior in improving digestibility and degradability of MOLM compared to all other treatments tested. Diets with 20-40% enzyme-treated MOLM were more expensive than the control diet and did not improve performance. Therefore, lower inclusion levels of 20-40 % enzyme-treated MOLM should be in-cooperated in the diets of improved indigenous grower diets for better performance and profits.
