Effect of Heavy Metals Contamination on Performance, Blood Profile of Broiler Chicks Fed Corn-Soya Meal Diet

Five hundred, day old Arbo Acre broiler chicks were used in an experiment to evaluate the effect of heavy metals contamination on the performance and blood profile of broiler chicks fed corn-soya meal diet. The birds were randomly assigned to five treatment diets in a Completely Randomized Design [CRD] and each treatment group was further sub- divided into four replicates containing twenty birds each. The chicks were feed ad-libitum with formulated broiler starter diet supplemented with battery waste at levels of 0 %, 5 %, 10 %, 15 %, and 20 % representing treatments 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively. Feed intake, daily weight were the performance criteria measured while the blood profile includes heamatology and serum analysis. Results showed that broilers fed battery waste above 5 % were significantly affected (Pless than0.05) in terms of their body weight, feed intake, haematological and biochemical analysis were affected. The result of this experiment demonstrated that inclusion of battery waste in broiler chicks above 5 % have a deleterious effect on growth, performance and health status of birds.