Performance and nutrient retention of finisher broilers fed graded levels of Detarium microcarpum (Guill and Sperr) seed meal

The feeding trial was conducted with two hundred and twenty five 28 days old ‘Sayed’ broiler chicks randomly allocated to five dietary treatments to investigate the performance and nutrient retention response of finisher broiler chicks fed diets containing 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20% cooked Detarium microcarpum seed meals (DMSM), respectively. The results of the growth performance, feed intake, feed conversion and protein efficiency ratios were similar (P>0.05) across the treatments. The percentage protein and other nutrients retention of birds fed the control and DMSM based diets didnot differ significantly (P>0.05) among the treatments but an improvement was observed with increasing DMSM inclusion in the diets. The  supplementation of GNC with DMSM however, reduced cost of feed per kg, cost of feed per kg weight gain

Nutritive and replacement value of hungry rice ‘‘Acha’’ (Digitaria exilis) grain for maize grain in broiler starter chicks

The hungry rice grains (HG) were determined for nutrients and anti nutrients and evaluated for growth performance. Five dietary diets were formulated with AG replacing maize at 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 %. A total of 150 7days-old broiler chicks (Abor-Acre) were randomly allotted to five treatments of 30 birds each, replicated thrice (10 birds each) in a completely randomized design for 28 days. The results of the proximate composition of hungry rice grains showed 87.00% dry matter, 12.00 % crude protein, 6.49% ether extracts, 8.57% crude fibre, 5.70% ash, 67.24% nitrogen free extracts and gross energy of 3556.06 Kcal/kg. The anti- nutrient values of acha grains contained 0.18 mg/100g of tannin, 1.03 mg/100g of phytate, 0.90 mg/100g of oxalate and 0.05mg/100g of cyanide. The mineral element of acha grains showed the following trend (mg/100g) K (215.82)<P (131.00)<Mg(46.02)<S(32.40)<Ca (28.17)< Fe (22.82ppm)<Na (11.30). The HG is a rich source of amino acids {methionine (5.19 g/16gN), leucine (4.26 g/16gN), valine (4.11 g/16gN), phenylalanine (2.34 g/16gN), lysine (1.96 g/16gN), isoleucine (1.39 g/16gN), arginine (1.29 g/16gN), histidine (1.35 g/16gN), glutamic acid (5.63 g/16gN), alanine (4.16g/16N) and limiting in tryptophan (0.98g/16gN). The birds on 100% HG had better (P<0.05) growth rate compared with those on 75, 50, 25 and 0%. The feed intake of birds fed 100% HG (1999.33g) was higher (P<0.05) than those fed 50% (1852.31g) but similar (P>0.05) to those on 75% (1948.26g) and 0% (1972.90g). The feed: gain of birds on 25 % (1.97) HG was superior (P<0.05) compared with those of other diets.KEY WORDS: Nutrients, Metabolites, Performance, Acha Grains, Broiler Chick

Hatching And Brooding Of Guinea Fowl (Numida meleagris galeata pellas) Egg Using Local Hen

A total of 164 candled fertile guinea fowl eggs were selected from the College farm and were randomly assigned to two treatment group consisting seven local hens and six guinea fowl hens. Effects of these replacement on hatchability, embryonic mortality, mean incubation time and weaned/keet mortality were investigated. The result shows that there were significantly (

Effects of raw and toasted Daniellia oliveri (Rolfe) seed meal on broiler chicken performance

Two hundred and ten day-old Arbor acre broiler chicks were used to assess the protein quality of raw and toasted Daniellia oliveri seed meal (DOSM) on performance, haematology, and some biochemical indices. Seven treatment diets that contained 0% (control), 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5% raw DOSM and 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5% toasted DOSM respectively were randomly assigned to seven groups of 30 birds each, replicated thrice with 10 birds per replicate in a completely randomized design. Chemical analysis indicated that raw DOSM contained (% DM) 26.50 crude protein, 6.02 crude fibre, 4.30 ether extract, 4.06 ash and 47.47 carbohydrate. The results of the crude fibre (3.19%), ash (2.8%) and nitrogen free extracts (40.51%) were reduced after toasting while the crude protein (28.60%) and ether extract (7.85%) increased. The raw DOSM contained (mg/100g) tannin (2.23), phytic acid (30.39), oxalate (20.02), hydrocyanide (6.05) and saponin (2.08). Toasting treatment eliminate almost completely the anti nutritional compounds in the seeds. Performance data indicate that body weight gain and feed to gain ratio were significantly (P<0.05) better in broiler chicks fed 0.0, 2.5 % raw and all levels of toasted DOSM diets than those on 5.0 and 7.5% raw DOSM based diets. The results of the packed cell volume, red blood cell count, white blood cell count, haemoglobin, serum protein, albumin, glucose and cholesterol of birds on 0.0 %, 2.5% raw and all levels of toasted DOSM diets did not showed any significant effect (P>0.05) but differed (P<0.05) from those on 5.0 and 7.5% raw DOSM. The inclusion of 5 and 7.5 % raw DOSM significantly (P<0.05) decreased weight gain, feed conversion ratio, nutrient digestibility, haematological and biochemical indices. From the results, it can be concluded that inclusion of 2.50% raw DOSM and up to 7.5% toasted DOSM as a replacement for ground nut meal has no adverse effects on the performance, haematological and serum biochemistry.Keywords: Daniellia oliveri seed, anti nutrients, broiler chicks, performance, blood components

Prevalence Of Micro-Organisms In Flies And Meat Cuts In Uyo Abattoir, Akwa Ibom State

A total of 100 samples, 50 each of fresh meat cuts and flies were aseptically collected from Iba-Oku Abattoir in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State periodically and processed for quantitative and qualitative microbiological analysis using cultural procedures. Results of quantitative analysis revealed microbiological load of flies ranging from 1.8 (+ 0.02) X 106 to 1.83 ( + 0.33) X 106 cfu/g-1 while that of meat cuts ranged from 1.2 (+ 0.02) X105 to 1.25 (+ 0.33) X 106 cfu/g-1. The viable plate count (VPC) of Micro-organisms on flies was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in all the weeks of analysis. Qualitative evaluation of bacterial flora of the meat cuts and flies revealed Staphylococus aureus as the most predominant organism, 48% and 50% respectively while Proteus was the least with 12% and 14% incidence in meat cuts and flies respectively. Apart from known mycotoxin producing Aspergillus and Penicillium species encountered in this work, the occurrence of Stapylococcus aureus, E. coli, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Micrococcus roseus, Bacillus subtilis, Streptococcus, Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, and Salmonella species is indicative of gross contamination and constitute potential health hazard to consumers. Continuous microbiological surveillance of abattoirs is recommended to avert imminent danger of food borne intoxications. The public health significance of these findings are discussed in the paper. KEY WORDS: Microbial, Contamination, Meat cuts, Flies, Abattoir. Global Journal of Agricultural Sciences Vol.3(1&2) 2004:79-8

Growth performance, haematological and serum biochemical indices of cockerel chicks fed ginger (Zingiber officinale) additive in diets

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of graded levels (0, 1.5, 3.0 and 4.5%) of ginger in the diets of cockerel chicks on growth performance and haematological and serum biochemical parameters. Two hundred and sixty four-two week old cockerel chicks used for the trial were randomly allotted to four treatments (T1 T2, T3, T4) at 66 chicks per treatment, each treatment was replicated six times (11 birds per replicate). The diets were isocaloric and isonitrogenous (2400kcal/kg M.E and 21%crude protein). The trial lasted for seven weeks. Results elicited that gingersupplementation at 0, 1.5, 3.0 and 4.5 % had no adverse effect on feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion ratio, haemoglobin count, white blood cell count and lymphocyte count. Packed cell volume (28.0 &#177; 3.0%), Red blood cell count (2.2 &#177; 0.4 (x 109/1) and urea (4.5 &#177; 1.7 mg dl-1) were significantly varied (P &lt; 0.05); while the levels of creatinine increased significantly beyond 1.5% ginger inclusion level. Inclusion of ginger at 1.5 &#8211; 3.0% levels had no adverse effects on the growth performance and blood constituents of cockerel chicks. The use of ginger for cockerel diet is therefore advocated