Effects of Fermented Madre De Agua Leaf Meal (Trichanthera gigantea) on Growth Performance of Heritage Free-Range Chicken (Gallus domesticus Linn.)

Abstract

The study was conducted to evaluate the performance of six (6) week-old heritage chicken (Black Australorp) fed with Madre de agua leaf meals of the compound diets.  A single-factor experiment was used for 75-head starter chicks with three (3) dietary treatments and five (5) replications.  The feeding trial was run for 84 days through feed mixtures containing 16.105% and 3,105; Crude Protein and ME, Kcal/kg, respectively. Trichantheragigantea leaf meal was produced through 3-day sun drying and 10 min of oven-drying until the 10-14% moisture content was achieved. The dried leaves were hammer-milled through a 2-mm sieve. The experimental feeds were subjected to laboratory analysis. The results of the study observed a marked improvement in the growth performance of the experimental birds as measured by the parameters used. Significant differences among treatment means were observed from the average gain weight, average feed consumption (3,698g – 4,538g), and final weight gain (774.82–977.39 g). The feed conversion ratio (4.65 – 4.77), and feed cost per kg of meat produced (PhP126.60 – 37.72) were not significantly affected by the experimental diets (P>0.05). The improved growth performance of the experimental chicken indicated that the madre de agualeaf meals-treated dietcan be a viable feed option for free-range chicken. It is recommended to further explore the viability of the said experimental feed mixture to other chicken breeds and poultry species using various feed formulations with madre de agua leaf meals as protein feed ingredients.