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The effects of replacing soybean meal (SBM) with graded levels of morula kernel cake (MKC) on growth performance and haemo-biochemical parameters in broiler chickens were studied. Four isonitrogenous and iso-caloric diets were formulated by replacing the SBM component at 0, 40, 80 and 120 g/kg with MKC as protein source in grower and finisher diets. One hundred and sixty 2-week-old chicks were randomly allocated to the treatments, which were replicated five times (eight birds/pen). Growth performance and blood parameters were measured. Results showed that neither linear nor quadratic trends were observed for weekly feed intake (WFI), weekly weight gain (WWG), weekly feed conversion ratio (WFCR), and growth performance with MKC levels. However, packed cell volume (PCV) quadratically decreased (Y=37.4±1.2+1.4±0.5+0.13±0.03X²; R2=0.39; p=0.005) with MKC levels, heterophils increased (y=50.9±1.8+1.18±0.73x; R2=0.35, p=0.009) while lymphocytes decreased linearly (y=40.7±1.67-1.42±0.67x; R2=0.35, p=0.02) with MKC levels. There was a linear decrease (Y=0.81±0.02-0.01±0.01x; R2=0.2895; p=0.02) in magnesium while phosphorus increased quadratically with MKC levels. Quadratic trends (Y=17.2±0.6+0.7±0.2+0.04±0.02X²; R2=0.47; p=0.05) were also observed in iron as MKC levels increased. All the parameters of blood biochemistry fell within the normal range for birds. The present results indicate that inclusion of MKC up to 120 g/kg does not result in adverse effects on diet utilisation, growth performance, and health status of Ross 308 broiler chickens, indicating that MKC has the potential to be used as an alternative protein source to SBM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to assess the inclusion of varying levels of Moringa oleifera leaf meal (MOLM) on nutrients digestibility, feed intake, growth rate and serum metabolites of New Zealand white weaned rabbits (NZWR). Sixty-four (64) male NZWR (600 ± 8.58 g body weight, 28 days old) were raised on four isonitrogenous and isoenergetic diets formulated by adding MOLM at 0% (MOLM0), 5% (MOLM5), 10% (MOLM10) and 15% (MOLM15) in a factorial arrangement. There was a significant quadratic trend for fibre digestibility (y = 21.5 (± 0.04) - 0.58 (± 0.01) x + 0.03 (± 0.0008) x2; R2 = 0.99), and fat digestibility linearly increased (y = 3.9 (± 0.34) - 0.07 (± 0.11) x) with MOLM levels. The analysis of repeated measures showed a significant interaction effect of diet x week on weekly feed intake and growth performance. Feed intake demonstrated a linear trend, whilst weight gain and feed conversion ratio showed both linear and quadratic trend; however, the protein efficiency ratio exhibited a quadratic tendency. There were no significant linear and quadratic dependencies for serum biochemical components with the exception of aspartate aminotransferase and albumen. Therefore, it can be concluded that MOLM can be incorporated (up to 15%) in rabbit diets without any adverse effect on growth performance parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]