Carcass Evaluation and Blood Metabolites of Finishing Broiler Chickens Fed Bitterleaf (Vernonia Amygdalina Del.) Meal as Feed Additive in a Tropical Environment

The study was conducted using finishing broiler chickens to determine the commercial cuts and carcass characteristics, as well as the blood metabolites when fed diets containing bitterleaf ( Vernonia amygdalina DEL.) meal at varying proportion as additive, with the aim of discovering a possibility of improving the commercial cuts of finishing broiler chickens to enable farmers and processors make better profit through better feed conversion to muscles, as well as to check the extent to which internal organs and blood metabolites can be affected from consumption of the leafmeal diets. Four diets were tested. Diet 1 contained no leafmeal and was the control, Diet 2 contained bitterleaf meal (BLM) at 2.5% inclusion level, Diet 3 contained BLM at 5.0% inclusion level and Diet 4 contained BLM at 7.5% inclusion level. Though there were significant (P<0.05) differences in the average live weight of the birds, but the dress percentage had no significant (P>0.05) difference. Some lacerations were observed in the liver of the chickens fed the leafmeal diet at higher inclusion levels of the additive (5% and 7.5%). It was concluded from the study that bitterleaf meal, BLM, can be added as an additive in finishing broiler diet up to 7.5% to improve commercial cuts, though at this inclusion level it might be injurious to some internal organs such as the liver.