Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) requirements of Heterobranchus longifilis fingerlings

A feeding experiment was conducted to quantify the minimum dietary vitamin C requirement of Heterobranchus longifilis fingerlings. Fish were fed a basal diet with 42.5% crude protein for a conditioning period of 2 weeks. Following conditioning, fingerlings with initial mean weight, 2.3 ± 0.3 g were stocked as groups of 20 fingerlings into 30 litre tanks in a mini-flow through experimental system. Graded levels (0, 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250) mg of L-ascorbic acid kg-1 diet was included into the basal diet by replacing part of the silica component and fed to triplicate groups for 20 weeks. Fish fed the control (0 mg vitamin C kg-1) diet exhibited deficiency signs including lordosis, caudal fin deformity,skin erosion and significantly (P < 0.05) suppressed weight gain and higher condition factor. Protein efficiency ratio and specific growth rate were significantly (P < 0.05) improved with increasing levels ofvitamin C up to 200 mg kg-1 diets. Tissues (liver, kidney, gills and muscle) ascorbate concentration generally reflected dietary inclusion levels with significant (P < 0.05) lowest level occurring in thecontrol groups. The dietary requirement based on least mean squares error regression analysis of weight gain and specific growth rate data on inclusion level of vitamin C was 82.2 ± 0.2 mg vitamin C kg-1 diet which corresponds to 100 mg of vitamin C kg-1 diet

Replacement of fish meal with maggots in broiler diets: Effects on performance and nutrient retention

The effects of replacing O, 33.3, 66.7 or 100% of dietary fish meal (9%) with housefly maggots (Musca  domestica. Linn) was investigated using broilers from day old to 5 weeks of age. Increasing the dietary  level of maggots reduced feed intake and weight gain while increasing the feed; gain ratio (P&gt;0.05). There was  however no significant effect of dietary maggots on mortality rate (P&gt;0.05). Replacement of dietary fish meal with maggots caused significant reduction in  niti·ogen retention (P&lt;0.05) but an increase in fat  retention (P&gt;0.05). There was no significant effect of replacing dietary fish meal with maggots on the  metabolizable energy value of the diets (P&gt;0.05). It is concluded that maggots could replace only 33% of dietary fish meal (9%) without compromising  performance and nutrient retention in broiler chicks. The cost of harvesting and  processing maggots is about 15% of equivalent weight of fish meal, making even partial replacement of  fishmeal with maggots economical.Key words: Maggots, fishmeal, broiler performance, nutrient retention

Effect of replacing deitary fish meal with maggots on performance and nutrient retention of laying hens

Laying hens (53 weeks old) were fed a basal diet with 9% fi sh meal and diets in which housefly maggots  (Musca domestica, Linn) replaced 33.3, 66.7 and 100% of the fish meal in the basal diet during a 6-week  trial period. Average daily fee(, intake were 125.1, 115.1, 109.1 and 105.7g respectively (P&lt;0.05). Con:esponding total weight gain per bird during the trial period were 210, 180, 20 and 37g respectively (P&lt;0.05). There was however no significant effects of increasing dietary level of maggots on egg  production, egg weight or  feed/dozen eggs (P&gt;0.05). There was also no significant effects of the treatments on protein or fat retention by laying hens. It is concluded that housefly magg'. 's could repluce fish meal {9%) in layer's diet without detrimental effects on their performance. Maggots is a cheap alternative to fishmeal in laying hen diets, the cost of its production being only 15% of the equivalent weight of fishmeal.Key words: Maggots, fishmeal, layers, performance nutrient retention

Response of Laying Hens to Dietary Full-Fat Soybeans Steamed for Different Time Periods

Laying hens (56 weeks old) were fed for 8 weeks on diets containing 15.5% of full-fat soybeans steamed for 0, 5, 10, 15 or 20 minute. Average feed intake and egg production increased, with increase in length of time of steaming. Feed per dozen eggs decreased with increase in time of steaming dietary full-fat soybeans (P&lt;0.05). However, there was no significant effect of the dietary treatments on egg weight. Increasing the time of steaming dietary soybeans improved the retention of both protein and fat. It is concluded that steaming of soybeans did alleviate the problems associated with the feeding of raw soybeans.Keywords: Full-fat Soybeans, Timed Steaming, Laying Hen

Apparent nitrogen corrected and true metabolisable energy of processed thevetia oil for broiler finisher birds

Sixty, finishing broilers aged 35 days were used to determine the Apparent, Nitrogen corrected and True metabolisable energy value of thevetia oil. The oil was subjected to heat treatment of 110°C for 25 minutes. Four experimental diets consisting of a basal diet and three other diets in which thevetia oil was substituted for 2.5, 5.0 and 10.0% of the basal diet. The experiment lasted for 10 days, made up of a 7-day adjustment period and a 3-day total collection period. Protein and fibre retention were significantly (P&lt;0.05) influenced by dietary thevetia oil level Three regression equations were derived for estimating the metabolisable energy value of thevetia oil viz: y = 2990 + 61.9x (AME), y = 3076 + 59.8x (TME) and y = 2848 + 57.2x (AMEn). The Apparent metabolisable energy (AME) of thevetia oil was determined to be 9180kcal/kg and 9056kcal/kg respectively.Keywords: Thevetia oil, metabolisable energy, broiler finisher

Detoxification Characteristics of Dietary Neem Kernel Meal Treated Under Carbon Dioxide Environment and Lyle: Effects on Haematology, Histology and Biochemical Indices in Swine

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Effects of dietary levels of chemically treated Terminalia catappa fruit waste with or without enzyme supplementation for pullet chicks

An experiment to investigate the replacement value of Terminalia catappa fruit waste (TCFW) for maize in the diet of pullet chicks was carried out. A gross (144) silver brown highline breed pullet chicks at day old were randomly allocated to six dietary treatments in a 3 x 2 factorial design feeding trial, to study the replacement effects on performance, nutrient retention and some body weights of chicks. TCFW was subjected to povidone to detoxify the phytotoxins and supplemented with or without Xylanase to degrade the high fibre and included in diets at 0, 30.6 and 63.52% replacing 0, 50 or 100% respectively of maize while Nutrase xyla (NX) was supplemented at 0 or 100ppm. There were statistically significant differences in performance parameters- feed intake, feed efficiency and high mortality was recorded on diets with high inclusion level of the waste (

Effects of Detoxification on Nigerian Neem Kernel Composition and its Impact on Swine Performance

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