Growth Performance, Carcass and Organ Characteristics of Pullets Fed Plantain Ash Supplemented Commercial Diets

The main objective of this study was to compare the effects of different plantain ash sources (plantain root base ash (PRA) and plantain stalk ash (PSA) supplementation on the performance of pullets fed commercial diets. Ninety six Isa brown pullets aged 15 weeks were therefore used to assess the effect of supplementing commercial diets with plantain root base (PRA) and stalk ashes (PSA) on growth performance, carcass and organ characteristics of pullets during 4 weeks before point of laying (19 weeks of age) and 6 weeks of laying period (25 weeks of age). The pullets were divided into two groups of 48 each for supplementation with either PSA or PRA. Each group was divided into four groups of 12, which were further replicated 3 times with 4 birds per replicate in a completely randomized design. At each developmental stage, the feed offered to the birds was supplemented with 0 (control), 1, 2, and 3 g/kg body weight of PSA or PRA. One g/kgBW of PRA supplementation elicited observable growth performance effects on the birds, while for PSA it was 2 g/kgBW. The 2 g/kgBW PSA supplemented birds gained significantly (P<0.05) more weight than the other groups except the control, which consumed significantly (P<0.05) more feed. At point of laying, the 1g/kgBW PRA group recorded significantly (P<0.05) higher body weight and weight gain than the control. Plantain root base ash affected dressing percentage significantly (P<0.05) resulting in higher thigh weights, while organ weights decreased with increasing ash supplementation levels. Plantain ash therefore has positive effect on growth and edible carcass cut. Key words: plantain ash, pullets, feed, carcas

SPARC 2018 Internationalisation and collaboration : Salford postgraduate annual research conference book of abstracts

Welcome to the Book of Abstracts for the 2018 SPARC conference. This year we not only celebrate the work of our PGRs but also the launch of our Doctoral School, which makes this year’s conference extra special. Once again we have received a tremendous contribution from our postgraduate research community; with over 100 presenters, the conference truly showcases a vibrant PGR community at Salford. These abstracts provide a taster of the research strengths of their works, and provide delegates with a reference point for networking and initiating critical debate. With such wide-ranging topics being showcased, we encourage you to take up this great opportunity to engage with researchers working in different subject areas from your own. To meet global challenges, high impact research inevitably requires interdisciplinary collaboration. This is recognised by all major research funders. Therefore engaging with the work of others and forging collaborations across subject areas is an essential skill for the next generation of researchers

Haematology and Serum Characteristics of African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus Burchell) Fed Graded Levels of Tigernut Based Diet

The chronic effect of feeding tigernut based diets was investigated on African catfish (Clarias garerpinus). 225 African catfish were randomly allotted to five experimental diets (CP=40%) in which tiger nut replaced maize at 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% respectively and fed at 3% body weight daily for a period of 20 weeks. Other water quality parameters were maintained throughout the duration of the study. Blood samples were collected from fish in replicates and analyzed for haematological and serum parameters. Results of the haematology showed no significant differences among the parameters except haemoglobin and Packed cell volume (p0.05). This trial indicated that tigernut meal can replace maize wholly in diets of African catfish without any deleterious effect on the physiology and/or health status of the fish

The Effect of Cinnamon Extract on Spermatogenesis and

Mineral elements are important nutrients in animal diets because they participate in metabolic, enzymatic and biochemical reactions needed for sustenance, feed efficiency, growth and development of animals. According to UnderGenerally, only a fraction of the mineral ingested by an animal is effectively absorbed, while most are bound to other components such as fibre and then excreted. In this study, faecal mineral composition differentials were used as indicators of mineral uptake by pullets supplemented varying levels of plantain ash in their daily rations for nine weeks. Plantain stalk and root base samples were collected, sun dried and ashed to produce plantain stalk ash (PSA) and root base ash (PRA), respectively. Ninety six (96) day old Isa Brown pullets were reared to 15 weeks of age and thereafter divided into 2 major groups of 48 birds each. Each group was divided into 4 subgroups of 12 birds each and each subgroup divided into three replicates giving four birds per replicate in a completely randomized design. The PSA and PRA were fed to the pullets as mineral supplements to commercial grower from the 15 th to 18 th week (4 wk) and layer mashes from the 19 th to 24 th week (6 wk) at the rate 0, 1, 2 and 3 g per kg body weight so that one group received PSA and the other PRA. In each case, the zero supplementation served as control. At the 9 th week of feeding, faecal samples were collected from the groups, dried in the sun and analyzed for their mineral compositions by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Among the macro minerals, both PSA and PRA supplementation resulted in reductions in the faecal concentrations of K and Mg, with increasing supplementation level, resulting in further reduction of faecal content of these minerals. Mg showed highly significant (P<0.05, P<0.01) regression effects for PSA and PRA, respectively. Reductions in faecal Ni and Fe concentrations were high (47.62 and 79.19%) across 1 g/kg body weight (BW) PSA and PRA supplementations, while it was 83.33% for Mn at the same 1 g/kg BW PRA supplementation. Ni (PSA) and Cr (PSA and PRA) values were significant (P<0.10) for regression effects, implying that the faecal values of these minerals could be predicted from any given quantity of plantain ash using the regression equations. PRA supplementations resulted in increasing faecal content of the two heavy metals, that is, lead and cadmium, indicating selective poor intestinal absorption of these. Plantain ash could serve as potential sources of absorbable mineral supplements and also could improve mineral uptake from commercial diets offered to pullets