Nutrient Digestibility, Metabolizable Energy and Carcass Traits of Broilers Fed White and Yellow Cassava Root Meals Supplemented with Different Additives

Cassava root is rich in energy but low in protein. New varieties developed exhibit better nutritional profile. An 8-week experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of 2 varieties of cassava root meal (CRM) with various additives on nutrient digestibility energy, metabolizable and carcass traits of broilers. Two hundred and forty unsexed day-old broilers were allotted to 8 dietary treatments in a 2 x 4 factorial arrangement of white (TME 419) and yellow (ITA/IBD/1368) CRM supplemented with no additive, amino acids (methionine and lysine), enzyme and amino acids + enzyme (A.A + Enz). The experiment lasted for the starter (0 - 4 weeks) and finisher (5-8weeks) phases. Variety effect showed higher (p<0.05) nutrient digestibilities in finisher broilers fed with white cassava than yellow. White cassava + amino acids showed higher EED and ASHD while yellow cassava with amino acids + enzyme yielded improved nutrient digestibilities. White cassava variety revealed higher (p<0.05) metabolizable energy values than yellow. Broilers fed white cassava + enzyme had the highest (p<0.05) metabolizable energy values. In conclusion, supplementing yellow CRM with A.A + Enz improved nutrient digestibility only at the starter phase. Supplementation of white cassava diet with enzyme and amino acid at the starter and finisher phases respectively, improved energy metabolizablility.