Use of combined oral contraceptive pills among teenage girls in Calabar, Nigeria

Christopher U Iklaki,1 John E Inaku,2 John E Ekabua,1 Patience O Odusolu,1 Charles O Njoku11Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria; 2Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, NigeriaAbstract: The objective of this study was to find out about the use of combined oral contraceptive pills by women in Calabar, Nigeria, with a particular interest in single nulliparous teenage women. During the period from 2006 to 2010, a total of 1980 women seen in the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital's family planning unit used various methods of contraception. Of these, 316 (15.96%) used combined oral contraceptive pills. Twenty girls aged between 13 and 19 years accounted for 6.3% of those who used combined oral contraceptive pills. There were 296 (93.6%) women between the ages of 20 and 34 years who accounted for the remaining users. Of these women, 195 (61.5%) were educated to the secondary level, and 34 (10.8%) were educated to primary level. No women without formal education used combined oral contraceptive pills during the period of study. The majority of the users were nulliparous (128; 40.4%); the rest had parity values of at least one to more than four. One hundred thirty-seven (43.4%) of the users were single, 112 (35.4%) were married, and the remaining 67 (21.1%) were separated, divorced, or widowed. There is a growing need to educate young Nigerian women about the use of combined oral contraceptive pills; this medication is suitable and effective for most young women, and it also has additional noncontraceptive health benefits.Keywords: combined, oral, contraception, pill

Effects of Partial Replacement of Soybean Meal with Cassava Leaf Meal in Broiler Finisher Rations

One hundred and fifty (150) four weeks old broilers were raised in eight litter pens for the period of four weeks to observe the effect of cassava leaf meal (CLM) on the comparative body weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, feed efficiency and feed cost of the birds. Five experimental broiler finisher diets containing 0, 2.5, 5.0, 7.5 and 10.0% cassava leaf meal to replace soybean meal were formulated in which 0% CLM was the control. The birds were fed the experimental diets ad libitum and equally exposed to all necessary management practices. There was no significant difference (p>0.05) in initial live weight and feed efficiency. Birds on diet containing 2.5% inclusion level had slightly better performance than those fed higher values. Results from this study showed that at low levels of inclusion, the feeding value for cassava leaf meal for poultry gives a better balance of amino acids

Effects of sweet potato meal on performance and carcass characteristics of broiler finisher birds

Three hundred and five (305) five weeks old broilers (Anak strain) were used in a four-week experiment to determine the effect of dietary substitution of processed sweet potato meal for maize grain on the carcass quality of broilers at the finisher phase. Graded levels of processed sweet potato meal (0, 12.5, 25, 37.5 and 50%) substituted corresponding levels of maize grain in five treatments (A, B, C, D and E) respectively, which were further replicated five times in a completely randomized design. Feed and water were supplied ad libitum to the experimental birds, while vaccinations and necessary medications were promptly administered tosustain good health and immunity. Carcass evaluations in weights were measured weekly in all the treatments. The average weights of the broilers at four weeks were 1400, 1210, 1106, 1000 and 786 gm for treatments A, B, C, D and E respectively. Results showed that treatment C had significantly (p<0.05) improved body weight, shank length, wing length, body height, body length, thigh length, leg length, daily feed intake, heart weight and crop weight. Processed sweet potato meal can replace maize grain in finisher broiler rations without deleterious effect.Keywords: Broiler, sweet potato meal, maize, performance, carcass evaluation, poultr

Effects of Graded Levels of Pigeon Pea Meal on Growth Performance and Organ Characteristics of Finisher Broilers

Two hundred (200) five weeks old broiler birds of Anak breed from a commercial hatchery were used to investigate the effects of replacing soybean meal with pigeon pea meal in finisher broilers. The birds were fed on 0, 50, 75 and 100% dietary inclusions of toasted pigeon pea as replacement for soybean in a 28 day feeding trial.  Significant interaction between dietary levels of pigeon pea and soybean were observed on feed efficiency and weight gain (p<0.05). Increase in dietary levels of pigeon pea reduced feed transit time in gastro-intestinal tract (GIT) (p<0.05), while supplementary soybean had the opposite effect (p<0.05). There were significant differences (p<0.05) between birds in various internal organ characteristics, with birds on the control diet having significantly (p<0.05) lower values than birds on T2, T3 and T4 in all the parameters measured. It was concluded that broiler birds could tolerate up to 75% dietary levels of pigeon pea without detrimental effects on performance and nutrient retention