The feeding value of roasted castor oil bean (Ricinus communis) to growing chicks

A nutritive evaluation of roasted castor oil bean (Ricinus communis) was made using 150 day old crossbred progeny of barred Plymouth rock × Nigerian local chicken. The chicks were divided into five groups of 30 birds each. Each group was fed one of five iso-nitrogenous and iso-caloric diets A, B, C, D and E containing 0% (control), 10% non-roasted castor oil bean seeds (NRCOB), or 10, 15 or 20% roasted castor oil bean seeds (RCOB), respectively. Roasting was done at 140°C for 20 minutes in order to destroy the ricin component of the castor oil bean seed. There were significant (P<0.05) differences in average feed intake, daily gain, and feed conversion ratio between birds among the treatments. The best results were obtained with inclusion of RCOB at the 10% level. The birds fed the 20% roasted bean diets had the worst performance. The diet containing the 10% NRCOB supported little or no growth, and also resulted in a high mortality (83%) among the birds. There were no significant (P<0.05) differences in mortality rates between the control diet and the other diets containing RCOB.