No abstract

This study was designed to evaluate the effect of graded levels of scent leaf meals on blood parameters and carcass characteristics among two broiler strains. A total of 150 unsexed broilers consisting of 75 Abor Acre and 75 Cobb were randomly allotted into 5 treatments of 15 birds for each strain. Treatment one (T1) had no scent leaf meal (control); treatment two (T2), treatment three (T3), treatment four (T4) and treatment five (T5) had 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, and 2.0% throughout the experimental period (56days). Blood samples and carcass characteristics were evaluated after the feeding trial and subjected to analysis of variance in a completely randomized design. Results revealed that diets and strain significantly (P < 0.05) affected live weight, dressed weights, and dressing percentages. T3 had the highest live and dressed weight (2091.50 ± 85.27 g and 1737.67 ± 22.16 g), while T5 recorded the lowest (1700 ± 102.47 g and1253.17 ± 68.09 g). Cobb was superior to Arbor acre for all carcass traits except for leg weight. Red Blood Cell, White Blood Cell, Mean Corpuscular Volume, Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin and Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin Count of the two strains were significantly (P < 0.05) different, while Pack Cell Volume, Haemoglobin, Neutrophils, Lymphocytes, Monocytes, Eosinphils and Basophils were not significantly different (P > 0.05). This study revealed no detrimental effect of the test ingredients on birds, though 1.5% inclusion rate could be tolerated, 1.0% is recommended for optimum performance, and can therefore efficiently replace synthetic antibiotic in broiler production.

This study examined the effects of unconventional feed on performance characteristics and candi-date gene expression in growing pigs of 3-5months of age. A Total of forty-five (45) growing pigs were randomly allotted into five treatments consisting of whole maize (T1), brewer’s dried grain (T2), cassava peel meal (T3), plantain peel meal (T4), and corn husk meal (T5), at 35% inclusion rate. Per-formance data were collected for 12weeks, while duodenum and liver samples were collected after the experiment for gene expression analysis. Data were analyzed in a completely randomized design. Diets significantly (p< 0.05) affected growth performance with treatment 2 recording the highest average daily weight gain of 0.21±0.02 whilecorn husk meal (T5)had the least 0.11±0.01. Feed efficiency was highest for whole maize (T1) and brewer’s dried grain (T2) (0.10±0.02) and lowest for t5 (0.07±0.17). Cost-benefit analysis were significantly different (p<0.05) with t4 recording the highest gross margin. Insulin-like growth factor1 and leptin gene were differentially expressed in tissues, while no significant differences (p>0.05) existed for growth hormone gene and ryanodine receptor1 gene. The results showed commendable gross margin, however, cognizance should be taken in the quantity of brewer’s dried grain fed to pigs since it increased the expression of ryanodine receptor 1 gene that leads to por-cine malignant hypertermia and pale soft exudates pork.

This study was conducted to examine the growth performance and expression patterns of growth hormone gene and insulin-like growth factor in metabolic tissues of pigs fed different unconventional feed sources. A total of 45 growing pigs were randomly assigned to 5 dietary treatments at 9 animals per treatment and 3 animals per replicate. Treatment one (T1) comprise of whole maize (WM) which served as the control, T2: brewers dried grain (BDG), T3: cassava peel meal (CPM), T4: plantain peel meal (PPM) and T5: corn husk meal (CHM) at 35% inclusion in the diet. Data collected and analyzed includes; initial body weight (IBW), final body weight (FBW), average daily feed intake (ADFI), average daily weight gain (ADG), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and feed efficiency (FE). At the end of the feeding trial, three animals per treatment (one animal per replicate) were slaughtered; the duodenum and liver were collected and stored using RNALater prior to RNA extraction. Real-time qPCR was performed in 40cycles using the PowerUp SYBR Green reagent and analysed using the Delta-Delta Ct method. All data were subjected to analysis of variance in a completely randomized design. The results showed that the treatment diets had effect on growth performance with significant differences (P &lt; 0.05) observed for average final weight, average total weight gain, average daily feed intake, feed conversion ratio and feed efficiency while the initial weight were not significantly different (P &gt; 0.05). IGF-2 was differentially expressed in the liver and duodenum across treatments while significant differences were not observed in the expression pattern of the growth hormone gene in both tissues. This study showed promise for the use of unconventional feeding stuffs in pig feeding and reveals that genes influencing performance characters are differentially expressed in relation to the source of unconventional feeds used in compounding pig diet.