Sciences de la volaille, de la pêche et de la faune
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Replacement of Soybean Grain with Cowpea Grain (Vigna unguiculata) as Protein Supplement in Sasso x Rir Crossbred Chicks Diet

Shambel Adino, Zewdu Wondifraw and Mesganaw Addis

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the feeding value of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) grain for the replacement of soybean grain on the performance of SASSO x RIR crossbred chicks. A total of one hundred ninety five 21-day-old unsexed SASSO x RIR crossbred chicks were grouped into 15 pens of 13 chicks each, and randomly assigned to five treatments with a supplement of 100% soybean as control (T1), 75% soybean +25% cowpea in T2, 50% soybean +50% cowpea in T3, 25% soybean +75% cowpea in T4 and 100% cowpea supplement in T5 to the 30% of TMR. The results showed that the mean dry matter intake and dry matter conversion ratio did not vary (P>0.05) among the dietary treatments. However, significantly (P<0.05) inferior daily weight gain was obtained in chicks fed 100% cowpea supplement than the rest of dietary treatments. The CP intake was reduced (P<0.05) when the cowpea grain inclusion level is increased. Similarity in growth performance between chicks fed the control and a supplement of 25% soybean +75% cowpea was observed. Based on this, it could be concluded that soybean grain could be replaced by cowpea grain in chicks rations at the level of 75% without any adverse effect on growth performance of chicks so as to increase the economic efficiency.