Synergetic Effect of Cassava Sievate/Soybean Milk Residue Mixtures as Replacement for Maize in Growing Rabbits Diet

The grain replacement value of  cassava sievate/soybean milk residue (CS/SBMR) mixtures was investigated in a  56 days feeding trial using thirty two (32) cross bred rabbits of mixed sexes with average weight range of 546.38 ± 30.76 and 560.88 ± 29.020g. Four diets were formulated as follows: Diet 1 without inclusion of CS/SBMR served as the control. Diets 2, 3, and 4 had  CS/SBMR mixtures replacing  corn of the control diet at 25, 50 and 75 % respectively. The animals were randomly distributed to the four dietary treatments. Each treatment had eight animals with each rabbit serving as a replicate in a completely randomized design experiment. Results showed that there were significant differences (P<0.05) in the final live weight, daily weight gain, feed to gain ratio, daily feed intake, feed cost per kg (?) . Diets with CS/SBMR mixtures had similar (P<0.05) average daily weight gains of 12.85 ± 1.81, 11.55 ± 0.39 and 11.26 ± 1.18 for T2, T3 and T4 respectively which are higher (P<0.05) than 9.96 ± 1.21 of the control. The digestibility of nutrients shows that the dry matter, crude protein as well as ether extract digestibilities across the treatments were similar (P>0.05) for rabbits in treatments 1, 2 and 3 but higher (P<0.05) than rabbits in treatment 4. Rabbits fed 50 % inclusion level of CS/SBMR had the lowest (P<0.05) cost per kg weight gain (N152.77/kg weight gain). The heamatological parameters measured were not affected by dietary treatments. Relative kidney and liver weights were not affected (p>0.05) but the dressed carcass, dressing percentage, heart, lungs and spleen were affected (p<0.05) by dietary treatments.  Inclusion of cassava sievate/soybean milk residue mixtures in the diets of growing rabbits enhanced growth, reduced cost of production and is thus recommended for use by resource poor farmers to partially replace the expensive conventional maize. Keywords: cassava sievate, soybean milk residue, growing rabbits, performanc

Performance characteristics of growing rabbits fed diet based on a non-conventional ingredient

A feeding trial using twenty four cross bred 8-9 weeks old rabbits was conducted to investigate the effect of feeding cerelac waste - CW (a by-product of the infant food industry considered as waste) on the performance and organ characteristics of growing rabbits. Three experimental diets were formulated with diet 1 serving as the control. Diets 2 and 3 had CW included at 25 and 50% respectively. The rabbits were randomly allocated into 3 treatment (after weight balancing) groups of 8 rabbits each and the groups were assigned randomly to the three diets with each rabbit serving as a replicate in a Complete Randomized Design experiment. The experiment lasted for 8 weeks. Dietary treatments had no significant (p>0.05) effect on the average daily gain, which was 11.3, 11.6, 11.3 g/d for the control, 25 and 50% inclusion respectively. In addition, the feed conversion rate was not significantly (p>0.05) affected by the inclusion of CW, which were 6.64, 6.24 and 6.45 for the control, 25 and 50% inclusion of CW respectively. However, the feed cost per kg as well as feed cost per kg weight gain decreased linearly with increasing level of CW. The relative organ weights showed no significant differences (p>0.05) across the dietary treatments. In conclusion, 50% CW can be included in growing rabbit diets without negative effect on performance.Keywords: Cerelac waste, daily weight gain, growing rabbit, haematological parameters, relative organ weigh

Association of water-borne diseases morbidity pattern and water quality in parts of Ibadan City, Nigeria

Occurrence of diarrhoea and other water-borne diseases in cities of developing countries has been on the increase over the decades largely due to unsafe water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene among human population. This study examined the relationship between the spatial pattern of water-borne diseases vis-a- vis water quality in parts of Ibadan City in Nigeria. Data on 1,334 cases of various water-borne diseases was collected from eight public hospitals with catchments covering the study area. Three areas with relatively high incidence of water-borne diseases and another three areas with relatively low incidence were selected for water sampling and household survey. Water samples from rains, wells, and borehole were collected for physical and bacteriological analyses. A well structured questionnaire was administered to 350 residents of the selected areas to elicit information on water sourcing, handling and storage. Analysis of hospital records showed significant difference in the occurrence of water-borne diseases among residential areas (P<0.05). Typhoid fever had the highest occurrence (39.3%) followed by bacillary dysentery and cholera. About 45% of water-borne diseases were reported in July to September. The majority (77.1%) of the respondents depended on wells as major source of domestic water. Faecal coliform contamination of water samples ranged between 0.1 x 104 and 1.8 x 104 CFUml-1. Furthermore, 18% of rain water and 23.6% of well water samples were positive to Vibrio cholerae , Salmonella typhi and Shigella dysenteriae . Potash alum application for domestic water treatment accounted for 68.6% explanation of waterborne diseases morbidity pattern in the study area (P<0.05). Provision of adequate potable water remains the most important tool for preventing water-borne diseases in the study area

Growth and nutrient utilization of broiler chickens fed steam treated cattle rumen epithelia scrapping meal in place of fish meal

feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the growth performance and nutrient digestibility of broiler chickens fed varied levels of steam-treated&nbsp; Cattle Rumen Epithelia Scrapings (CRESM) in replacement for fish meal at 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% level. Two hundred and four (240), one-day old Abor Acre strain of broiler chickens used for the study were randomly divided into 5 treatments of four (4) replicates each. There were 12 birds per&nbsp; replicate to make a total of 48 birds per treatment in a completely randomized design. Data were collected on the feed intake, weight gain, feed to gain ratio, feed cost per kilogram weight gain at the starter and finisher phases while digestibility trial was conducted at the finisher phase. The results indicated that feed intake (44.15, 48.20, 48.87, 47.18 and 49.30g) and weight gain (20.73, 24.13, 24.63, 23.69 and 23.34g) for 0, 25, 50, 75 and&nbsp; 100% CRESM, respectively were higher (P&lt;0.05) and feed: gain ratio lower in birds that received diets containing CRESM at starter phase. Feed cost and feed cost per kg weight gain decreased with increased level of CRESM at this phase. At the finisher phase, feed cost per kilogram weight gain(? 260:01) of treatment five (100% inclusion of CRESM) was the lowest (p&lt;0.05) compared with other inclusion while the control was the highest. It was concluded that 100% fishmeal could be replaced with steam-treated CRESM in broiler diets, thus ultimately reducing the production cost and increasing the profit accruable to farmers. Keywords: Growth performance, Nutrient digestibility, CRESM, fish mea