Effect of rations with cassava leaf flour on the productive performance of broilers

A trial was conducted to study the effect of cassava leaf meal (CLM) in diets on the productive performance of broilers. A total of 640 Cobb broilers line were used, distributed at random in 32 poultry-yards with 8 repetitions per treatment and 20 per poultry-yard. The following treatments were evaluated during 42 days: T1 = 0%; T2 = 2.5%; T3 = 5.0%, and T4 = 7.5% of CLM. The productive parameters studied were: weight gain (WG), food intake (FI), food conversion (FC), mortality (M), and relative economical index (REI). A totally random design was used. The variance. The data was analyzed using SAS with a variance procedure and least means squares method. Broilers that consumed T1 and T2 rations showed similar results for WG (2.099 and 2.090 kg) and FC (1.69 and 1.70), but these treatments were significant different (P < 0.05) compared to T3 and T4 for WG (2.033 kg and 2.048 kg) and FC (1.74 and 1.74), respectively. There were no differences between treatments for CF and REI. During the experiment, mortality was null. The results suggest that is possible to use up to 7.5% of CLM in the diets of broilers without affecting productive parameters, allowing a saving in the total feeding cost. These parameters were similar to the broilers production average in Venezuela.