Advances in Animal and Veterinary Sciences November 2022 | Volume 10 | Issue 11 | Page 2347 INTRODUCTION T he poultry industry continues to grow worldwide due to an increase in demand for poultry meat by consum- ers (Truong et al., 2019). Tis is due to its high nutritional value and the fact that it is cheap, fast, and easy to prepare, thus, making it the leading supplier of protein meat in the world (Hafz et al., 2015; Gravel and Doyen, 2020). South Africa is leading in terms of poultry-producing countries in Africa followed by Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, and Al- geria respectively (Nkukwana, 2018). Furthermore, broiler production in South Africa generates more income than other livestock production (Nkukwana, 2018). Moreover, it plays a huge role in providing food, income, and employ- ment for communities (Kumar et al., 2021). According to Alahakoon and Jayasena. (2016), poultry meat is the most Research Article Abstract | Te study was conducted to determine the efect of Acacia karroo leaf meal (AKLM) inclusion in diets on growth performance and gut morphology of Ross 308 chickens from day-old to 6 weeks of age. 320-day-old Ross 308 broiler chicks were assigned to a 2 (sex) × 4 (dietary treatment levels) factorial arrangement in a CRD, having 8 treatments, replicated x4 with 10 chicks/replicate. AKLM inclusion levels were at 0, 0.5, 1.0 or 1.5g/kg dry matter (DM). Weekly feed intake (FI), live weight (LW), and growth rate (GR) were measured to obtain the feed conversion ratio (FCR). Gut characteristics were measured on days 21 st and 42 nd of age. Data were analysed using the General Linear Model (GLM) procedures of the Statistical Analysis System. FI, FCR, GR, and LW of both sexes were the same (P>0.05) across all treatments for the frst 2 weeks. During the 3 rd week, AKLM inclusion levels signifcantly (P<0.05) afected DM intake, FCR, GR, and LWs of both sexes. In the last 3 weeks of the trial, FI, FCR, GR, and LW for both male and female broilers were similar (P>0.05) across all treatments. AKLM did not afect (P>0.05) gut organ digesta pH, lengths, and weight values of male and female broilers aged 21 days. At day 42 of age, AKLM inclusion levels in the diets afected (P<0.05) gastrointestinal tract (GIT), ileum, and large intestine lengths of male broilers. Fe- male broiler chickens on a diet having 1.0g of AKLM had longer (P<0.05) GIT than those without AKLM inclusion. Female broiler chickens on a diet having 1.0g of AKLM per kg DM had higher (P<0.05) gizzard weights than those diets with no AKLM inclusion at 6 weeks old. It is concluded that AKLM up to 1.5g/kg DM could be included in broiler chicken diets without any adverse efects on the performance and gut morphology. Keywords | Acacia karroo, Broilers, Gut morphology, Leaf meals, Tannins. SEKOBANE DANIEL KOLOBE, TLOU GRACE MANYELO*, JONES WILFRED NG’AMBI, MUNYADZIWA FELICIA DORCUS NEMAULUMA, EMMANUEL MALEMATJA Efect of Acacia karroo Leaf Meal Inclusion Levels on Performance and Gut Morphology of Broiler Chickens Received | March 20, 2022; Accepted | August 18, 2022; Published | October 15, 2022 *Correspondence | Tlou Grace Manyelo, Department of Agricultural Economics and Animal Production, University of Limpopo, Private Bag X1106, Sovenga 0727, South Africa; Email: grace.manyelo@ul.ac.za Citation | Kolobe SD, Manyelo TG, Ngambi JW, Nemauluma MFD, Malematja E (2022). Efect of acacia karroo leaf meal inclusion levels on performance and gut morphology of broiler chickens . Adv. Anim. Vet. Sci. 10(11): 2347-2355. DOI | http://dx.doi.org/10.17582/journal.aavs/2022/10.11.2347.2355 ISSN (Online) | 2307-8316 Copyright: 2022 by the authors. Licensee ResearchersLinks Ltd, England, UK. Tis article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY ) license (https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/). Department of Agricultural Economics and Animal Production, University of Limpopo, Private Bag X1106, Sovenga 0727, South Africa.