Effect of feeding broiler chickens with diets containing Alchornea cordifolia leaf meal and enzyme supplementation

This study sought to evaluate the effect of Alchornea cordifolia leaf meal (ACLM) inclusion and exogenous enzyme supplementation on broiler chickens. Two hundred and fifty-two (252) arbour acre two weeks-old broiler chicken were selected from a larger flock that had been brooded on deep litter and raised on commercial diet. These birds were balanced for weight and thereafter distributed into 18 pens of 14 birds each. These pens were randomly allotted to six dietary treatment groups in such way that 3 replicates were fed on each experimental diet. For the starter and finisher phase, six experimental diets were formulated and designated as 0-E, 5-E and 10-E for the diets without enzyme and 0+E, 5+E and 10+E for diets with enzyme. Diet 0-E and 0+E serve as positive and negative control respectively. The experiment was carried out using a 2x3 factorial experiment comprising of 2 enzyme levels (0 and 0.35 g/kg) and 3 ACLM inclusion levels (0, 5 and 10%).The final weight (FW) and weight gain (WG) were significantly affected by enzyme supplementation (p