Potential of Azolla pinnata R. Br. as partial protein suppliment in broiler diet

Azolla pinnata is well known as an aquatic plant that contains high protein level. Due to this beneficial value, farmers widely used Azolla pinnata as alternative protein sources to livestock, especially chickens. However, in this country, there is no relevant scientific evidence on the growth performance of broiler chickens fed with Azolla pinnata. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the potential of Azolla pinnata as a protein supplement in broiler diet on the growth performance of broiler chicken. In the first experiment, the nutritional composition of Azolla pinnata was analyzed by using a proximate analysis method. In the second experiment, it involved 200 male day-old broiler chicks that divided into four dietary treatment groups (control: 0% of Azolla pinnata, T1: 5% of Azolla pinnata, T2: 10% of Azolla pinnata and T3: 15% of Azolla pinnata). Each group consists of 50 birds with five replicates and ten birds per pen. Bodyweight and feed intake were recorded weekly. At the end of the experiment, the FCR, body weight gain, feed intake, and feeding cost were calculated. At day 21, and day 42, ten birds from each treatment were slaughtered to collect ileal digesta sample. The ileal digesta samples were collected to determine the effect of Azolla pinnata on nutrient digestibility of broiler chickens. At the same time, during day 42, the birds were slaughtered to determine the carcass and meat quality of the birds fed with Azolla pinnata. The finding in the first experiment showed, Azolla pinnata contain 5.14% of dry matter (DM), 24.82% crude protein (CP), 2.00% ether extract (EE), 16.64% crude fiber (CF), 11.59% ash, 34.95% nitrogen-free extract (NFE), 42.53% neutral detergent fiber, 31.15% acid detergent fiber (ADF) and 16.87% acid detergent lignin (ADL). The result from this study showed T3 (15% of Azolla pinnata) has significantly highest (P< 0.05) bodyweight gain. However, in terms of feed intake and feed conversion ratio, there were no significant differences among treatments. The feeding cost result showed that feed containing Azolla pinnata was economical compared to control feed. For the nutrient digestibility experiment, the findings showed compared with a control group, feeding of 10% or 15% of Azolla pinnata led to significant improvement (P< 0.05) in nutrient digestibility. The results showed there were no significant differences between the control and treatment group in term of carcass characteristics. In the meat quality, the inclusion of Azolla pinnata in the feed had no adverse effect toward meat color. However, in term of pH, T3 (15% of Azolla pinnata) was significantly (P< 0.05) highest compare to control. The study conclude, the inclusion of Azolla pinnata up to 15% in broiler chicken feed ration showed no adverse effect on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, meat production and meat quality of the birds.

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