ABSTRACT This study evaluated the effects of including Moringa oleifera (moringa) leaf meal on performance, carcass yield and characteristics, and relative organ weights of broilers from 10 to 42 days of age. We distributed 420 male Cobb 500 chicks in a completely randomized design with five treatments and six replicates with 14 birds each. Treatments consisted of five experimental diets in which the moringa leaf meal was included at 0, 1.5, 3.0, 4.5, and 6.0% in the diets. The following performance variables were evaluated: weight gain, feed intake, and feed conversion; weights and yields of carcass, carcass traits, organs, and abdominal fat; and feet color. Significant differences between the treatment means were analyzed by Dunnett’s test. The meal inclusion levels did not affect performance, carcass characteristics and yield, or organs weight. However, feet pigmentation increased linearly, and abdominal fat was greater only at the 1.5% level when compared with the control group. Moringa leaf meal can be included in the diet of broilers from 10 to 42 days of age, up to the level of 6%, without compromising performance or carcass yield of these birds.

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to determine prediction equations to estimate the nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolizable energy (AMEn) values of animal meals used in broiler diets through meta-analysis. A bibliographic review was undertaken with studies conducted in Brazil from 2000 to 2016 to catalogue information on AMEn values and the following chemical elements in the composition of the feedstuffs: crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), gross energy (GE), mineral matter (MM), calcium (Ca), and phosphorus (P). Groups were also catalogued and formed according to sex and age of birds. Chemical correlations were analyzed, and a multiple linear regression model with the stepwise procedure was used to examine the association between the variables, which were included in the equation as a function of their importance. High and significant correlation coefficients between the independent (GE, MM, CP, EE, Ca, and P) and dependent variable (AMEn) contribute to the understanding of variations in the energy values of these feedstuffs. According to the coefficients of determination, the best equations to estimate AMEn of poultry offal meal and meat and bone meal are AMEn = 6139 − 45.5 CP + 0.356 GE − 123.5 MM ( R 2 = 0.8302 ) and AMEn = 2267 + 19.9 CP + 67.9 EE − 44.4 MM ( R 2 = 0.9021 ) , respectively.