Use of Moringa oleifera in chickens and its effect on Productive and Economic parameters

Abstract

This research was carried out at the Santa Inés farm (Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Universidad Técnica de Machala), El Oro Province, Ecuador. The main objective was to evaluate the effect of Moringa oleifera leaf meal on the productive and economic parameters of Cobb 500 chickens. For the biosecurity and well-being of the birds, a pre-established managemet for open-shed systems in the area was used, applying a basic vaccination schedule to the chickens. For the experiment, a Completely Random Design (CRD) was applied, using 200 Cobb 500, newborn mixed chickens (male and female), distributed in 5 treatments and evaluated for 35 days, each treatment had 4 experimental units of 10 chickens. The disposition of the groups was as follows: control (T1) to which only the basal diet; T2, T3, T4 and T5 in which 1, 2, 3, 4% of M. oleifera leaf meal was administered in the feed, respectively. The variables evaluated were: live body weight, feed consumption and accumulated water, feed conversion ratio, mortality, productive efficiency factor, kilograms of meat per square meters (m2) and economic expenses. To determine the possible differences, the statistical software Statgraphics Centurion XV.I.®, was used. A parametric analysis of one factor (ANOVA), prior to the assumptions of normality and homogeneity was used. In order to discriminate among the means, the Bonferroni multiple comparison procedure was applied with a confidence level of 95%. The results showed that there is an effect on live weight and feed intake, because diets with an inclusion greater than 3% were negatively influenced in the first 3 weeks of life of the animal, while the rest of the variables were not affected.