ABSTRACT

Ninety unsexed day-old broilers were used to evaluate the effect of raw pigeon pea (cajanus cajan) seed meal (PSM) diet on the haematological and organ characteristics of broilers. The experimental was a 2 x 4 factorial in a completely randomized design (CRD). I here were two inclusion levels of raw PSM (30 and 40%) in the diets and four levels of amino acid supplementation (lysine, methionine, lysine + methionine and no supplementation). Each treatment had three replications. There were 30 birds per treatment and 10 birds per replicate. Parameters measured were hemoglobin content (HBC), packed cell volume (PCV), red blood cell (RBC) and white blood cell (WBC). The organ characteristics measured were heart, liver, empty gizzard, small intestine, large intestine, caeca, proventricultiin and spleen. Results showed that raw PSM diets included as 30 or 40% of the . :ts of starter broilers significantly (P<0.05) reduced the WBC (6.61 or 6.36 g/l) of broilers compared to WBC (8.13 g/l) of broilers fed control diet. Supplementation of the PSM diets with lysine and or methionine significantly (P<0.05) affected all haematological indices. At the finisher phase, level of inclusion of the raw PSM in the diets and amino acid supplementation did not significantly (P>0.05) influence the haernatological indices of the broilers. 1-lowever, interaction between level of inclusion and amino acid supplementation produced significant (P<0.05) effects in all the parameters measured. Broilers led 40% raw PSM diet had significantly (P<0.05) higher heart, liver, gizzard and small intestine weights than those fed control or 30% PSM diet. Amino acid supplementation of raw PSM diets significantly (P<O.05) affected all organ characteristics, except the spleen but without regular pattern. The conclusion was that raw pigeon pea seed meal (PSM) could be included p to 40% in starter and finisher broiler diets. The diets should however be supplemented with lysine and methionine.