Carcass Characteristics of Broilers fed Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia diversifolia) Leaf Meal-based Diets

A study was conducted for eight weeks to investigate the effect of feeding Mexican sunflower (Tithonia diversifolia) leaf meal on carcass characteristics of broilers. One hundred and fifty day old Abor Acre broiler chicks were randomly assigned to five treatments (A, B, C, D and E). Treatment A served as control while birds in treatments B, C, D and E received Mexican sunflower Leaf Meal (MSLM) at 2.5, 5.0, 7.5 and 10.0% respectively. Feeds and water were provided ad libitum and the routine vaccination / medication followed the standard procedures. The results showed a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in all the parameters measured for carcass characteristics (shank, gizzard, head, crop, thigh, drumstick, wings breast, back, neck, abdominal fats, spleen, heart, lung, liver, intestine and proventriculus) except for the neck weight where birds on treatment B (2.50% MSLM) obtained the highest neck weight (182.31g) and the spleen with highest weight (3.60g) were obtained in treatment C (5.0% MSLM). The carcass qualities were also significantly decreased (p > 0.05) except for the neck and spleen weights. Primal cuts of broilers expressed as percentage of dressed weights were similar across treatments. The result of this study showed that inclusion of MSLM in the diet of broilers up to 10% level decreased the live weights, weights of head, shank and the internal organs but had no adverse effect on proportion of primal cuts expressed as percentage of dressed weight.