6 research outputs found
Comparative egg production analysis of isa brown laying strain raised in three poultry farms in a tropical environment
Data from egg production records involving a total of 1,208 intensively-managed Isa-brown laying strain obtained from three poultry Farms A, B and C located in Calabar Municipality were used for this study. Percent henday production was computed for a period ranging from point-of-lay, 24 weeks of age (Farms A and C) and 20 weeks of age (Farms B). The 40 weeks in-lay for the three farms, was further sub-divided into four discrete production (10- weekly) phases (weeks 1-10; 11-20; 21-30; 31-40) in each of the farms. Maximum hen-day production was obtained as follows: Farm A (70.40% in week 18); Farm B (85.50% in week 20) and Farm C (79.30% in week 25). The percentage hen/day production pattern were fitted into two regression models namely – the simple linear model andexponential function using the age-in-lay as the predictor variable and percentage Hen-day production as the dependent variable. Irrespective of the function used, the rate of increase in percentage egg production was highest within the first quarter (1-10 week) of production in each farm. As the production phase lengthened, the predicted rate of increase in production declined and the predictive ability of the simple linear model as judged by the R2 value became comparatively lower when compared to exponential function. The egg production pattern revealed a period of rapidly increasing production, attainment of peak, and the phase of a gradual declining production. Based on these findings, partitioning the laying period into phases could be a step forward in explaining the concept of phase feeding in which layers are fed at different protein levels at different phases based on their level of production
Clinical complaints among males in beniseed consuming areas of Cross River and Benue states of Nigeria
A survey on clinical complaints arising from beniseed consumption by 860 males randomly selected from residents and indigenes of Obudu, Ogoja in Cross River State and Vandekya, in Benue State, all in Nigeria, was conducted. Traditionally, there had been an age long complaint by men from these areas of painful urination upon consumption of beniseed soup. The results obtained in the survey showed that 804 (93.49%) respondents aged 18 years and above, had consumed beniseed in its various processed forms. Of this number, 492 (61.19%) claimed to have experienced some discomfort ranging from painful urination (343, 84.0%), abdominal upset (26, 6.4%), heartburn (20, 4.9%), constipation (15, 3.7%) and flatulence (4, 0.98%). Also, 408 (82.9%) consumed beniseed as soup, 17 (3.5%) raw, 25 (5.1%) roasted while 42 (8.5%) gave no response to the questionaire. From the survey, 38.7% of respondents who consumed beniseed soup, 41.2% raw beniseed and 52.0% roasted beniseed experienced the discomfort shortly after consumption while 47.8% of those who consumed beniseed soup, 41.2% raw beniseed and 28.0% roasted beniseed had any of these experiences 1-3 days after consumption and the experiences lasted in both cases for 2-7 days. These experiences, particularly on consumption of beniseed soup, was attributed to when the soup was not “properly cooked”.KEY WORDS: Clinical Complaints, Beniseed, Males, Nigeri
Comparative chemical analysis of Cucumeropsis edulis and Adenopus breviflorus as affected by heat treatment
Adenopus breviflorus is a perennial climber; it has the potentials to serve a dual purpose of being used as a protein supplement. This research was undertaken to compare the chemical composition of the raw and cooked Cucumeropsis edulis (edible) and Adenopus breviflorus (wild). The results of the proximate composition for the raw and cooked samples of Cucumeropsis edulis were crude protein (10.2 3 0.03 and 6.92 0.08 ), ether extract (2.43 0.03 and 2.13 0.09 ), crude fibre (11.80 0.16 and 31.8 0.15 ) and ash 8.23 0.14 and 9.60 0.20 ) while those for A. breviflorus were crude protein (17.29 0.15 and 9.89 0.13 ), ether extract 2.53 0.15 and 1.40 0.06 ), crude fibre (29.95 0.52 and 21.8 0.12 ) respectively. Sodium, Potassium and Magnesium content were higher in the raw C. edulis and Adenopus breviflorus samples. The levels of anti-nutrient substances (hydrocyanic acid, oxalate, phytic acid were higher in the raw than in the cooked samples of both cucurbits. Cooking brought about a reduction of 41.9 in phytic acid content in the pulp of A. breviflorus, while hydrocyanic acid had the least percentage decrease of 12.6 in the pulp of A. breviflorus
Growth performance of broiler chickens fed maize offal and crayfish-waste based diets
This study was conducted to evaluate the value of maize offal and cray fish waste meals as the main energy and protein sources respectivelys in broiler chicken diets. One hundred and twenty day-old-Lohmann Brown broiler chicks were randomly allotted into two treatment groups of three replicates of60 and 20 birds, respectively. Maize offal and crayfish waste meals were used to replace maize and soybean/fishmeal, respectively in the control diet (T ) 1 to form (T ). Growth parameters monitored were final live weight, daily weight gain, feed 2 conversion ratio, internal and external body linear measurements were evaluated were statistically analysed using the studentized t-test at 5% and 1% probability. Results showed significantly (P<0.05) higher values in all the parameters apart from feed intake for birds on the control diet. The final live weight of birds on the test diet (T ) only reached that of the 2 control at 10 weeks of age. The phenotypic correlation of body weight and linear body measurements for birds on both the control and test treatment diets were high and positively significant (P<0.01). However, birds on the control diet had the longest body parts than those of the test diet, likewise the internal body parts. When expressed based on percentage body weight, birds on the test diet tended to have longer external and internal body parts. It is concluded that if maize offal and crayfish waste are to be used as total replacement for maize, soybean and fishmeal, the period of broiler production should be extended from 8 weeks to 10 weeks for birds to reach market weight and with attendance lower cost of production.
Keywords: Maize offal, crayfish waste, phenotypic correlation, linear measuremen