Use of Carica papaya leaf as growth promoter and anti-parasitic in guinea fowl in Benin

Carica papaya is a widespread plant in the tropics that has shown excellent nutritional potential. This plant is also rich in bioactive compounds. This study aimed at determining the effect of different levels of Carica papaya leaf meal (PLM) on growth parameters of guinea fowl and its use for pest control. Feeding trial was conducted on forty-five growing guinea fowls for six weeks. The anti-parasitic effect evaluation trial was realized for six weeks using also forty-five eight-week-old guinea fowl. For the two trials, 3 treatments with 3 replicates (5 birds per replicate) were made. A completely randomized design was arranged with R5 (Diet with 5% PLM), R10 (Diet with 10% PLM), Control (Diet without PLM). The parameters measured were feed intake, daily weight gain, feed convertion ratio (FCR) and faecal egg count. The results for the animal performances showed a significant weight difference in favor of groups R5 and R10 compared to the control group. The incorporation of PLM in the diets led to a significant increase (p < 0.01) in daily weight gain compared to the control group. There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) among the treatments for the feed intake and FCR. The inclusion of PLM in the diets at 5% and 10% (R5 and R10) significantly decreased EPG count for Ascaridia spp (p < 0.01), Eimeria spp (p < 0.001), Heterakis spp (p < 0.01), Syngamus spp (p < 0.01) compared to control group. It can be concluded that PLM can be used at the rates of 5% and 10% of feed for guinea fowls with benefit effect on growth performance and health.Carica papaya is a widespread plant in the tropics that has shown excellent nutritional potential. This plant is also rich in bioactive compounds. This study aimed at determining the effect of different levels of Carica papaya leaf meal (PLM) on growth parameters of guinea fowl and its use for pest control. Feeding trial was conducted on forty-five growing guinea fowls for six weeks. The anti-parasitic effect evaluation trial was realized for six weeks using also forty-five eight-week-old guinea fowl. For the two trials, 3 treatments with 3 replicates (5 birds per replicate) were made. A completely randomized design was arranged with R5 (Diet with 5% PLM), R10 (Diet with 10% PLM), Control (Diet without PLM). The parameters measured were feed intake, daily weight gain, feed convertion ratio (FCR) and faecal egg count. The results for the animal performances showed a significant weight difference in favor of groups R5 and R10 compared to the control group. The incorporation of PLM in the diets led to a significant increase (p < 0.01) in daily weight gain compared to the control group. There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) among the treatments for the feed intake and FCR. The inclusion of PLM in the diets at 5% and 10% (R5 and R10) significantly decreased EPG count for Ascaridia spp (p < 0.01), Eimeria spp (p < 0.001), Heterakis spp (p < 0.01), Syngamus spp (p < 0.01) compared to control group. It can be concluded that PLM can be used at the rates of 5% and 10% of feed for guinea fowls with benefit effect on growth performance and health.