The efficacy of Moringa oleifera seed extract (MSE) in broiler nutrition is unknown. Thus, this study evaluated the effect of administering MSE through drinking water on physiological responses, carcass and meat quality traits, and bone parameters in Cobb 500 broilers. One-day-old male chicks (n = 250, 58.1 ± 0.23 g live-weight) were randomly allotted into five treatments of five replicates. The treatments were: negative control with drinking water only (NC); a positive control with 5 g probiotic (containing Aspergillus oryzae, Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecium, and Lactobacillus acidophilus; bacterial count of 5 × 10⁸ CFU/g) added into 1 L of drinking water (PC), 60 mL MSE/L drinking water (MSE₆₀); 90 mL MSE/L drinking water (MSE₉₀); and 120 mL MSE/L drinking water (MSE₁₂₀). The MSE groups promoted higher (p < 0.05) carcass weights than the PC and NC control groups. Spleen weights quadratically responded to MSE levels. Gizzard weight, duodenum length, acidic goblet cell count (GCC), and total duodenal and ileal GCC linearly increased with MSE levels. Tibia weight, bone breaking strength, and tibia calcium showed linear increases whereas tibia length and tibiotarsal index showed linear decreases with MSE levels. It can be concluded that the administration of MSE via drinking water improved carcass weights, intestinal morphology, and some meat and bone quality parameters of the birds.

Moringa oleifera seed extract (MSE) contains phytochemicals that can improve chicken production and health. However, the amount that can be orally administered to the birds is unknown. Thus, this study investigated the optimum level of MSE, administered through drinking water, on nutrient digestibility, growth performance, and haematological and serum biochemical parameters in broilers. A total of 250, one-day-old Cobb 500 male broilers (58.11 ± 0.23 g live-weight) were randomly allocated into five treatments with five replicates of 10 birds each. The treatments were: a negative control involving drinking water only (T1) and positive controls with 5 g multi-strain probiotic/L water (T2), 60 mL MSE/L water (T3), 90 mL MSE/L water (T4), and 120 mL MSE/L water (T5). Crude protein and neutral detergent fibre digestibility linearly decreased, whereas overall water intake and weight gain in one-week-old birds increased linearly (p < 0.05) as MSE levels increased. T1 promoted higher (p < 0.05) overall feed intake and feed conversion ratio than the other treatment groups. All haemato-biochemical parameters were within the range for healthy birds, from which a maximum MSE dosage was determined to be 94.75 mL/L. It can be concluded that oral administration of MSE improved overall feed utilisation efficiency of the chickens.

Owing to the scarcity of feed during the dry season in most tropical regions of Africa, attention has been shifted to the use of aquatic plants which were regarded as waste and take a lot of effort to eradicate. This study therefore aimed to explore the potential of water hyacinth as alternative feed source for ruminants. Twenty-four (24) West African Dwarf (WAD) goats with average body mass of 6.5 ± 0.22 kg were used in a 84-day feeding trial to determine the influence of whole Water Hyacinth (WH; Eichhornia crassipes ) plant as alternative livestock feed resource. The goats were divided into four (4) groups of six (6) animals per group. Each group was randomly allotted to the four experimental diets containing 0 %, 5 %, 10 % and 15 % of WH, respectively, in a Completely Randomised Design. Results showed that supplemented E. crassipes plant influenced ( p < 0.05) the growth performance characteristics of West African dwarf (WAD) goats. Five (5 %) percent inclusion of WH gave the highest ( p < 0.05) weight gain, metabolic weight and dry matter intake whereas 10 % inclusion of WH gave similar ( p > 0.05) weight gain as the control. In addition, 5 % percent inclusion of WH reduced ( p < 0.05) the cost of production with high returns. On the other hand, with 10 % inclusion we observed the highest ( p < 0.05) packed cell volume, red blood cell count and haemoglobin concentration. The 15 % WH inclusion resulted in an elevated ( p < 0.05) serum albumin and cost per kilogram weight gain. It can be concluded that feeding WAD goats with WH up to 10 % in their diets had favourable effects on growth performance, health and possibly immune response as well as profitability.