Journal of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine

A research was conducted with four weeks old mixed sex Arbor Acres strain of broiler chickens (n = 200) to study the effect of equi-protein replacement of soybean meal (SBM) with Moringa oleifera leaf meal (MLM) on carcass characteristics and meat quality potentials of broiler finishers. Five experimental diets were formulated in which the dietary SBM was partially replaced with MLM at 0, 12.50, 25, 37.50, and 50% graded levels to form T₁, T₂, T₃, T₄ and T₅ respectively. Each treatment was allotted 40 birds with 10 birds per replicate to make up 4 replicates in a treatment. The experiment lasted for 28 days during which feed and water were offered without restrictions. At the end of the feeding trial, 2 birds per replicate were sacrificed after initial mechanical stunning to assess carcass and organ characteristics, skin and shank pigmentation and palatability of cooked meat. The weight of broiler prime cuts such as the thigh, breast and drum stick were significantly (p<0.05) affected by the dietary treatments. Abdominal fat pad reduced significantly (p<0.05) with increased level of MLM supplementations in broilers’ diets. No significant (p>0.05) difference in the values recorded for cooking loss, however, in thaw loss, breast and drumstick recorded the highest (p<0.05) values of 15.48±1.81 and 4.05±0.78 in T₁ respectively. Skin and shank pigmentation scores increased (p<0.05) with increased levels of dietary MLM but the general acceptability scores of boiled chicken meat revealed no significant (p>0.05) difference. The present results indicate that MLM replacing SBM in broiler diets can improve significantly (p<0.05) carcass yield and abdominal fat reduction. Skin and shank colouration improved (p<0.05) and no adverse effect was observed in various internal organs compared with birds on the control diet