Nutritional evaluation of cassava root meal fortified with roselle seed meal as a replacement for maize on growth response and blood profile of broiler chicks

A major challenge diminishing the profitability and sustainability of the poultry industry is the astronomic increase in price of feed ingredient such as maize which is progressively eroding off the expected profit margin of poultry farmers. A total of two hundred and forty (240), day-old broiler chicks were used in four weeks feeding trial to investigate the effect of fermented cassava root fortified with roselle seed meal as a replacement for maize on growth performance and blood profiles of broiler chicks. Maize is the main energy source for the control diet (T1) while the other five diets (T2, T3, T4, T5 and T6 were partially replaced with varying levels of cassava root meal – roselle seed meal (CRM-RSM) mixture at 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50% inclusion rates respectively. The broiler chicks were weighed and allotted to six dietary treatments of 40 birds each. The groups were replicated four times in a completely randomized design of 10 birds per replicate. Parameters measured for growth response include: Initial weight, final weight, total weight gain, daily weight gain, total feed intake, daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio. Dietary treatments evoked significant (P < 0.05) effect on final weight, total weight gain and daily weight gain. Higher statistical (P < 0.05) values of 1153.33g and 1193.33g were recorded for final weight in the birds fed 0% and 10% CRM-RSM. Birds fed diets with 20% and 30% CRM-RSM, inclusion revealed similar statistical values 1133.33g and 1116.67g for final weight. With the exemption of neutrophil, graded level of CRM-RSM showed significant (P<0.05) influence on haematological parameters determined. Values recorded for packed cell volume PCV ranged between 38.50 – 45.00% and did not follow any specific trend. In conclusion, inclusion of cassava – roselle seed mixture up to 30% replacement level for maize improved growth performance without hazardous effect on starter broiler chicks

Dog Ecology and Management in Niger State, Nigeria: A Basic Tool for Rabies Control

Aims: To examine the dog ecology and management as it relates to the control of rabies in Niger State, Nigeria. Study Design: Questionnaire based survey. Place and Duration of Study: Structured questionnaires on dog ecology and management were administered in Niger State of Nigeria between January and March 2012. Methodology: Structured questionnaires on dog ecology and management comprising of 4 sections, were administered to 300 adult participants between the ages of 18-70 years using systematic randomization; 237 questionnaires were returned. Descriptive statistics using the SAS statistical package were employed to analyze the data. Results: Results indicated that there was a population ratio of 1:5.4 dogs to humans and 1:1.9 female to male dog ratio with an estimated 732,476 dog population in Niger State. Most of the dogs (58.6%) in the state were kept for security reasons and that majority of the dogs strayed at night (52.4%) and evenings (23.8%) into homes across the state. About 52% of dogs were not confined and responsibility for dogs in terms of welfare, mostly (61.5%) lied on everybody in the family and 61% of dogs were fed on family left overs. About 30.4% of dogs were never vaccinated and 31% of the respondents (or their family members) have been inflicted with a dog bite, but only 28.1% of cases received post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). For those humans that were bitten, about 13.8% resulted in death. Conclusion: Due to free roaming and irregular vaccination of dogs in the state; there is bound to be increased dog bite cases/rabies spread. This study concludes that dogs were not catered for as expected in the state and that employment of dog ecological studies before any rabies control programmes, will explore necessary data for planning the programme in Niger State of Nigeria. Improvement and employment of dog ecological studies across states for rabies control programmes in Nigeria and W/Africa is hereby recommended