Effect of different levels of earthworm meal (Eisenia fetida) on performance and breast and thigh meat quality of broiler chickens

Current experiment was conducted to determine the effect of different levels of earthworm meal (Eisenia fetida) on performance, breast and thigh meat quality in broiler chickens. For this purpose a completely randomized design with four levels of earthworm meal as treatments (0, 2%, 4% and 6%) was performed on 96 one day old Ross 308 male chicks. Each treatment consisted of 4 replicates with 6 chickens in each replicate. At the end of the experiment (d 42), two birds from each replicate were slaughtered and In order to study breast and thigh meat quality parameters (meat Tiubarbitoric acid index, water holding capacity, pH and moisture ) one day and one month after slaughtering transferred to freezer after carcass analysis. Results indicated that, dietary supplementation with( 2%) of earthworm meal compared to control and 6% earthworm meal significantly increased body weight and feed intake (P