Effects of Water Melon (Citrullus lanatus) and Pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima) Seeds and Their Mixture as Feed Additives on Growth Performance, Carcass Characteristics and Hematological Constituents of Broiler Chickens
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2026
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Abeba University
Abstract
This study evalauted the effects of feeding diets, containing seeds of water-melon, pumpkin and their combination on the growth perforamance, carcass characteristics, hematological indices, mortality and economic returns of broiler chicken production. 180 day-old Hubbard broiler chicks were divided into four treatment groups at random: T1 (control, 0% seeds), T2 (1% watermelon seeds), T3 (1% pumpkin seeds), and T4 (0.5% watermelon plus 0.5% pumpkin seeds). The trial lasted for forty-two days. The results demonstrated that although phase-dependent variations were observed, feed intake and growth performance were not significantly affected by dietary manipulations (P > 0.05). Birds of which fed on T4 gained less weight during the growth phase, but their feed conversion ratio improved during the finisher phase. While other carcass components were unaltered, supplementing with pumpkin seeds (T3) ignificantly enhanced live weight, dressed carcass weight, and breast muscle yield (P < 0.05). Packed cell volume, hemoglobin concentration, total erythrocyte count, and total leukocyte count were among the hematological parameters that were considerably higher in the supplemented groups (P < 0.01), indicating better immunological and oxygen transport. Treatments had little effect on the low mortality rate (3.47%). Due to increased feed efficiency and marketable weight, T3 produced the best net income per bird, according to economic research. In conclusion, adding 1% of pumpkin seeds and the seeds mixture to feed can be a safe, natural, and economical way to enhance the physiological health, carcass quality, and profitability of broiler production.
Description
Keywords
Broiler chickens, Watermelon seeds, Pumpkin seeds, Growth performance, Carcass characteristics, Hematological indices.