Four hundred (400) Bovan black pullet chicks were used to evaluate the effect of partial replacement of maize with sun-dried sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) fruit peel meal (SOPM). The birds were randomly allotted to five treatment groups of 80 birds and four replicates of 20 birds each. SOPM was used to replace maize at 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40% for diets T₀, T₁, T₂, T₃ and T₄ respectively. The birds were fed ad libitum for a period of 6 weeks while performance characteristics, nutrient utilization and economics of production were measured. SOPM in the diet depressed significantly (P<0.01) the mean feed intake, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio, protein efficiency ratio and final body weight of chicks. The digestibility of nutrients was adversely affected (P<0.01) by the inclusion of SOPM in the diet. The cost per kg of compounded feed reduced significantly (P<0.01) with increasing level of SOPM in the diet. Mortality was not affected. While the proximate composition of SOPM would suggest a potential for use as poultry feed ingredient, the results of this study shows that it is not a suitable alternative to maize in the form it was used. Other methods of processing SOPM should be investigated to enhance its nutritional value in the diet of pullet chicks.