A note on nutritive value of blend of blood and ground maize cob for broiler chickens

Abstract

Blend of blood and ground maize cob (BLOMC) was analysed and compared with wheat bran. Experiment was conducted on 300 14-day-old broiler chickens allocated to 5 dietary treatments, each consisting of 3 replicates. Birds were given diets containing 0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 g BLOMC kg -1 , replacing equal amounts of wheat bran.Growth performance and carcass yield of birds fed diets containing BLOMC did not differ markedly from those on the control diet, except the efficiency of feed utilization, which improved (r = 0.77; P<0.05) with the inclusion of BLOMC in diets. There were neither health-related problems nor mortality due to the addition of BLOMC to the diet. Dietary treatments did not have significant (P>0.05) impact on organ weights, except the gizzard weight, which was highest (P<0.01) in birds fed on the diet which contained 120 g BLOMC kg -1 . Examination of heart, kidney, liver, spleen, lung and pancreas revealed no gross abnormalities from feeding of BLOMC. It was cheaper to produce broilers using BLOMC than using wheat bran.

Growth Response and Economics of Production of Guinea Fowls Fed Diets Containing Blend of Bovine Blood and Cassava Meal

“…Out of the 15 mortalities, five (8.77%) occurred among birds fed the control diet (T1) which was devoid of any of the four BBLOCAMs, four (7.02%) occurred among birds fed BBLOCAM V, three (5.26%) occurred among birds fed BBLOCAM III, two (3.5 1%) occurred among birds fed the BBLOCAM II and the least mortality was among birds fed the BBLOCAM IV. This observation is in agreement with that obtained by Donkoh et al, (2003) who recorded the highest mortality (8.33%) among broilers fed on a control diet as against those fed on a blend of blood and ground maize cob (BLOMC). Dei et al, (2007) also recorded mortality of 8.3% on only layers fed on diets devoid of a processed product from cassava and blood (PPCB).…”

“…The cost of feed per kg body weight of GH¢3.78 in the control (T1) was reduced to GH¢3.60 in the BBLOCAM IV-containing diet (T5) leading to increase profit per bird in the BBLOCAM -based diets. The observation is similar to Donkoh et al, (2003) who fed broiler chickens with diets which contained a blend of corn cob and blood (BLOMC) and reported that the highest profit was obtain with birds on the 120 g BLOMC kg-1 diet. Similar findings were reported by Dei et al, (2007) who fed layer chickens with processed products from cassava and blood (PPCB) with a resultant reduced total feed cost and improved margin of profit on egg production.…”

“…The use of blend of blood and ground corncobs (BLOMC) as a replacement for wheat bran up to a level of 120 g/kg diet in broiler chickens with positive effects on growth performance (Donkoh et al, 2003).…”

Utilization of sun-dried maize offal with blood meal in diets for broiler chickens

“…The 150 g SDMBM/kg dietary treatment had the highest profit compared with the control, which was least (P < 0.05). Khawaja et al (2007) and Donkoh et al (2003) obtained similar results on superior economic benefits for blood meal and a blend of blood and ground maize cob in broilers, respectively.…”