Potentials of Jatropha Seeds as Substitute Protein in Nutrition of Poultry

An assessment of 5% Jatropha curcas seed meal, JSM treated by combined physical and biochemical methods was conducted. About 144 days old Olympiad cockerel chicks were fed the variously treated JSM in 6 dietary treatments and their performance, biochemical and blood composition were evaluated in a month feeding trial. Results on performance showed no significant differences in feed intake and weight gain (p>0.05) with a marginal variation in feed efficiency relative to the reference diet (p<0.05) and a very high mortality rate on the diet containing boiled and roasted JSM followed by fermentation. Some biochemical data analyzed showed no significant differences in all the indices measured except the blood cholesterol level and urea excretion (p<0.05). Also, no significant differences were recorded on the activities of AST and AP except ALT (p<0.05). Data on blood chemistry similarly indicated no significant differences in PCV, RBC, HB and the differentials of WBC counts (p>0.05) apart from the difference observed on WBC count (p<0.05). It could be inferred that treating JSM or its cake by most of the methods adopted could bring about detoxification and will have no adverse effect on the fed livestock. Further researches are being carried out to enable inclusion of Jatropha products/by-products at levels higher than the 5% used in this study.