Effect of Inclusion of Different Levels of Duckweed (Lemna minor) on the Performance of Broiler Chicken

Duckweed is a monocotyledon species of the family Lemnaceae. It is a small floating aquatic plant that grows very well on stagnant ponds and is commonly found throughout tropical countries in natural ponds, lakes and flooded rice fields. Duckweed has high crude protein content and a well-balanced amino acid profile and is also a good source of vitamins and minerals. Duckweed at different levels was utilized in the diet of broiler chicken to study their performance.

One hundred and fifty day old broiler chicks of one week old were distributed randomly into five treatment groups viz T₁: (Control), T₂: 5% Duckweed without enzyme, T₃: 5% Duckweed with enzyme, T₄: 10% Duckweed without enzyme and T₅: 10% Duckweed with enzyme having 30 chicks in each groups with three replicates of 10 chicks each.

The Duckweed contains 20.33% crude protein, 3.10% ether extract, 18.06% crude fibre, 2.80% calcium, 1.10% phosphorous and 1660.77 ME (Kcal/Kg). Significantly (P<0.05) higher body weight was recorded in T₁ (1889.67±13.28g) and T₃ (1878.65±2.02g) groups followed by T₂ (1831.67±3.51g), T₅ (1798.31±1.76 g) and T₄ (1728.63±2.60 g) groups, respectively. The average daily body weight gain was ranged between 37.87 to 41.66 g. The cumulative feed consumption was recorded to be highest in T₁ (3050.13±14.01) and lowest in T₄ (2943.17±8.54g) group. The Cumulative FCR was significantly (P<0.05) better (1.74±0.01) in T₁ and T₃ groups in comparison to T₂ (1.78±0.01), T₄ (1.85±0.01) and T₅ (1.78±0.04) groups. Total 3.3% mortality was recorded in all treatment groups except T₃ group in which there was no mortality during entire experimental period.