Cockerels, Egg-type Chickens, Moringa oleifera and Ocimum gratissimum

This study was conducted to determine the response of 810 ¿Isa strain¿ of chicken from day old to varying dietary levels (0%, 0.5% and 1.0%) of the leaf meals of Moringa oleifera (MOLM) and Ocimum gratissimum (OGLM) and their combination (MOLM/OGLM) in separate trials of 405 cockerels for 16 weeks and 405 egg-type chickens for 35 weeks. In each trial, the birds were randomly allocated to 9 treatment groups of 45 birds each with 3 replications of 15 birds per replicate. Birds on control (0%) were given conventional treatments (antibiotic and Vitamins). The experiment was laid-out in a 3x3 factorial arrangement and the data obtained were subjected to Analysis of Variance as for a Completely Random Design. The results showed that the final weights were significantly (P<0.05) high for birds on leaf meal; from 483.48±16.06g/bird at 0% to 555.68±8.01g/bird at 0.5% inclusion level of OGLM at 8th week and 1421.67±5.83g/bird at 0% to 1644.44g/bird at 1.0% MOLM/OGLM for cockerels at 16th week. Weight gain were also high (P<0.05) for birds on leaf meals with birds on 1.0% inclusion of MOLM/OGLM having the highest value.