Haematological and Serum Biochemical Responses of Broilers Fed Varying Levels of Indomie Waste-Based Diets

The haematological and serum biochemical responses of broilers fed indomie waste-based diets (IWBD) were investigated using one hundred and ninety (180) day-old broiler chicks of Anak strain. The chicks were randomly allotted to the different dietary treatments having graded levels of the IWBD in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Each treatment contained 3 replicates and each replicate had 12 birds. The treatments, T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 contained IWBD at 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% respectively as replacement for the maize content in the control diet (T1). At the end of the eight weeks experimental period, 3 blood sample were collected per replicate (9 samples per treatment) for haematological and serum analysis. Significant differences (p<0.05) were observed in haemoglobin (Hb) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) while the values of packed cell volume (PCV), red blood cell (RBC), white blood cell (WBC), platelets, mean cell volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), leucocytes, and the heterophil:lymphocyte ratio (H:L) were not significantly different (p>0.05) across the treatments in the haematological parameters examined. The serum biochemical indices did not show any significant differences in all the parameters studies. The values obtained which were within the normal range for healthy birds even where significant differences existed in the haematological values showed that IWBD can be used to replace maize in the diet of broiler chicken up to 100% without any adverse effect on the physiological and health status of the birds.