Present study was conducted to ascertain the effect of cooked African locust bean seed meal (CALBSM) diets on the growth response, organs weights and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens. Two hundred and twenty five day old broiler chickens (Marshall strain) were fed with diets containing CALBSM at dietary level 0, 7.5, 15, 22.5 and 30%, designated as Treatment 1, 2, 3 ,4 and 5.. Diets were allocated with three replicates (n = 45) to experimental animals in a completely randomized design (CRD). The experiment lasted 9 weeks (4 weeks for initial phase, 1 week adjustment period and 4 weeks final phase). The results of growth response at initial phase showed significant differences (P<0.05) in final body weight (977.00 to 1194.33 g), total feed intake (1853.51 to 1905.96 g) and feed conversion ratio (1.63 to 1.79). The highest weight gain and better performance were recorded in chicks fed with 15% CALBSM based diets compared to others. Similarly, the performance of broiler chicken at final phase showed the significant differences (P< 0.05) in the final body weight (2585.75 to 2976.69 g), total weight gain of chicks (957.70 to 1369.70 g) and feed cost per weight gain (181.32 to 239.27 N/kg gain). Higher weight gains in all phases were recorded for broiler chickens fed 15% CALBSM based diet compared to others. Carcass weight (1661.24 to 2020.51 g) and dressing percentages (69.88 to 73.20%) were significantly (P<0.05) higher in chicks fed 15% CALBSM diet over others. Breast muscle (17.79 to 22.27%), thigh and drumstick (16.78 to 19.84%) were significantly (P<0.05) affected by the dietary treatments. Results indicates that most of the organs (heart, lungs, pancreas and kidney) weight but liver did not show significant differences (P<0.05). However, there were significant differences (P<0.05) in the weight of gizzards and small intestines. Present findings lead authors to conclude that African locust bean seed meal cooked for 4 hours could be included in the diet of broiler chickens up 15% dietary level without any adverse effect on growth response, organs weights and carcass characteristics.
A preliminary study was carried out to determine the prevalence of Aflatoxin B1 (AfB1) contamination and common moulds growing in some selected poultry feed raw materials in Zaria. Five different feed raw materials:Maize (MZ), soybean cake (SBC), groundnut cake (GNC), brewers dried grain (BDG) and maize offal (M/O), were collected from four feed mills and the open market. The common moulds isolated from the samples were Mucor spp., Aspergillus spp., Fusarium spp., Penicillum spp., Curvularia spp. and Rhizopus spp. AfB1 contamination showed that maize and soya bean cake were less than the 20 parts per billion (ppb) permissible limits for AfB1 in poultry feed ingredients, while BDG, M/O and GNC were 40, 60 and 80 % respectively above 20 ppb permissible limits. A feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the response of broiler chickens to Mycofix a toxin binder. Three hundred and thirty Ross, 1-day old broiler chicks were assigned to five dietary treatments, each with three replicates of 22 chicks per replicate in a completely randomized design (CRD). Treatment 1 was the control diet without Mycofix while treatments 2, 3, 4 and 5 had Mycofix included at 100, 200, 300 and 400 g /100kg diet, respectively at both starter and finisher phases. Experimental diets and water were given to the birds ad libitum during eight weeks of the feeding trial. Data were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) using General Linear Model procedure of SAS and significant differences among treatment means were compared using Dunnette test of significance. Results of the starter phase showed that birds fed 400 g/100kg Mycofix diet had the best final body weight (902.67g), weight gain (839.67g) and average daily weight gain (29.98g). Birds fed 200 g /100 kg Mycofix had the lowest feed conversion ratio of 1.6 and the least cost per kilogram gain(₦138.52).At the finisher phase birds on 400 g/100kg Mycofix diet had the best final weight (2345.3g), weight gain (1403.3g), average daily gain (50.1g), feed conversion ratio (2.1) and least feed cost per kilogram gain (₦167.20). It may be concluded that addition of Mycofix to diets of broiler chickens at 400g/ 100kg at both starter and finisher phases of the study improved performance significantly and gave the least cost of production.
A total of thirty-five mixed breed (35) rabbits of average weight of 700 g aged 5-6 weeks were allocated to seven treatments in a completely randomised design to investigate the effect of sweet orange fruit waste (SOFW) and acidomix acidifier on haematology and serum chemistry. The diets were 0% SOFW, 10% SOFW with 0.5% acidomix, 10% SOFW with 0.7 acidomix, 15% SOFW with 0.5% acidifier, 15% SOFW with 0.7% acidifier, 20% SOFW with 0.5% acidifier, and 20% SOFW with 0.7% acidifier. Blood samples were analyzed for haemoglobin (hb) concentration, white blood cells (WBC), red blood cells (RBC), differential WBC count (lymphocyte, basophil, eosinophil, monocyte, and neutrophil), alanine amino transferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate amino transferase (AST), total protein, albumin, and globulin. There was no interaction between SOFW and acidifier for the haematological and most of the serum chemistry parameters but significant difference was observed in ALT; however the values were within the normal range. SOFW had no significant effect on all haematological and serum chemistry parameters. Acidomix had significant effect (P < 0.05) on haemoglobin concentration; rabbits fed 0.5% acidomix diets had higher values which were within the normal range. It is therefore concluded that SOFW with acidifier up to 20% had no detrimental effect on serum chemistry and haematology.
A total of 270 broiler chickens were used for the study. The birds were fed common diet containing 23% Crude protein and 2864 kcal kg(-1) Metabolizable energy at the starter phase while 20% Crude protein and 2923 kcal kg(-1) Metabolizable energy was fed at the finisher phase. Starter and finisher diets contained 10 and 15% inclusion levels of rice offal respectively. Granite grit was added to the basal diet at 0.0, 2.0, 4.0, 6.0, 8.0 and 10.0 g per bird per month thus making a total of six treatments. Each treatment was replicated three times with 15 birds per replicate in a completely randomized design. Packed cell volume and haemoglobin level were not significantly (p>0.05) affected by dietary grit levels while total protein increased across the graded levels of granite grit. Crude protein, crude fibre and nitrogen free extract significantly (p<0.05) improved with increasing grit levels. These parameters improved up to the highest level of grit addition (10.0 g) granite-grit. It was concluded that 10.0 g granite grit per bird per month is beneficial to broiler chickens as it allows for efficient nutrient utilization. Further study to determine the optimum level of granite grit in broiler diet is encouraged since result obtained showed the optimum level was not attained.
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