Performance of Finisher Broiler Chickens As Affected by Different Proportions of Cooked Cowpeas (Vigna Unguiculata) in the Grower-Finisher Diet (Report‪)‬

INTRODUCTION Soybean meal, with 44-48% crude protein is the major source of plant protein in poultry diets [1, 2]. According to Robinson and Singh, the price of soybean meal is forecasted to increase higher on the international market due to the high demands in China and the emergent countries of Asia [3]. As a consequence, there is the risk that this traditional source of protein for poultry would become too expensive and scarce in the years to come, particularly in low-income African countries south of the Sahara. It is, therefore, necessary to search for good substitutes using readily available local feedstuffs. Grain legumes could be good substitute for soybean meal, as they are known to have a similar amino acid profile [4]. However, recent studies agreed that the utilization of raw cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata) was limited by the presence of antinutritional factors (ANFs), which negatively affect broilers feed consumption and growth, thus confirming previous reports on the necessity to detoxify grain legumes before they can be included in monogastric animals' diets [5,6,7,8,9,10,11]. Different methods have been developed to de-activate the ANFs including heat treatment. Cooking could be an easy solution to local farmers if proven efficient.