Evaluation of three commercially available pig starter feeds in South West Nigeria

The study evaluated the chemical composition of three available commercial starter feeds and their effect on performance of weaner pigs. Three samples of commercially available pig starter feeds in Southwest, Nigeria were evaluated using two different approaches (biological and chemical analyses). The three commercial feed samples in the study, were assigned to three dietary treatments, namely commercially available feed 1 (CAF1), commercially available feed 2 (CAF2) and commercially available feed 3 (CAF3). Forty-eight weaner pigs with an average initial body weight (BW) of 11.15±0.58 kg were randomly apportioned to the three treatments for biological (performance) evaluation of the three commercially available pig starter feeds. There were significant (P<0.05) differences among the performance indices across the treatments. Pigs fed with CAF1 and CAF2 had the highest (45.03 Kg) and lowest (26.04 g) values respectively for final body weight, even when the pigs fed with CAF2 and CAF3 had similar average daily feed intake (0.84 vs 1.0 Kg) while that of pigs fed CAF1 was significantly (P<0.05) higher (1.32 Kg). The feed with lower cost (CAF2) increased the feed cost per kilogram live weight gain of the animals by 10.93 and 13.70% when compared with that of feeds with higher cost (CAF1 and CAF3) respectively. Majorly, the ME (Kcal/Kg) and crude fibre contents of CAF2 were at variance with the nutrient requirements of weaner pigs, hence the inferior performance and economic results obtained with the diet. Even though, there were marginal variations in the nutrient compositions of the CAF1 and CAF3 feeds, their growth performance and economy of gain results were comparable because they fell within the recommended nutrient requirement for this class of pigs. In conclusion, only two of the three commercially available pig feeds (CAF1 and CAF3) sampled, could be said to have been formulated to meet the recommended nutrient requirement for this class of pigs, hence their comparable performance and economy of gain results. Keywords: Commercial pig feeds, Weaner pigs, Biological evaluation, Chemical compositio

Impact of periodontal status on Oral Health Related Quality Of Life (OHRQOL) among patients attending the periodontology clinic of a Nigerian Tertiary Hospital

Introduction: Oral diseases including periodontal diseases negatively influence oral health- related the quality of life (OHRQoL) of  individuals. It can impact the functional, social and psychological well-being of an individual. Hence, the growing interest in oralhealth outcomes and its impact on QoL. Objectives: To assess the impact of periodontal disease variables on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) among patients attending the Periodontology clinic of the dental center of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital(LASUTH). Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 200 patients referred to the periodontology clinic of the dental center of LASUTH. Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14) was used to measure OHRQoL. Periodontal disease status was assessed  using community periodontal index (CPI) and loss of attachment. Oral hygiene status was evaluated using the Simplified oral hygiene index (OHI-S). Results: The prevalence of negative impact of periodontal disease on quality of life was 40.0%. The mean Oral Health Impact Profile 14 score was 13.91 ± 8.33; the highest mean was recorded in the domain of physical pain (3.62 ± 1.91). Female gender (p=0.004), low educational status (p=0.031), periodontitis (p= 0.042) and poor oral hygiene status (p=0.049), produced statistically significant negativeimpact on the quality of life. Conclusion: This study concluded that periodontal disease can affect the quality of life especially in patients with periodontitis. Dentists and other dental health professionals are therefore advised to encourage their patients to visit their dentists regularly to ensure early diagnosis of periodontal disease to reduce its severity. Keywords: Impact, oral health, Oral Health Impact Profile 14, oral health-related quality of life, quality of lif

Growth performance of weaned pigs fed from different feeding troughs: comparison of concrete feeding trough, semi-automatic feeder and its combination

The study was carried out to evaluate the effect of concrete feeding trough, semi-automatic feeder and their combination on growth performance  of weaned pigs. Sixty weaned cross bred (Large white x Landrace) pigs of average initial weight of 9.04 Kg were grouped based on sex and assigned to three dietary treatments, comprising two replicates of 10 weaned pigs each. The design of the experiment was completely randomized design. A  standard diet was prepared to meet the nutrient requirements of weaned pigs. The diet was fed to the animals in concrete feeding trough (T1), semi-automatic feeder and concrete feeding trough (T2) and semi-automatic feeder (T3). The experiment was partitioned into three periods (Weeks  1-4, 5-8 and 1-8). Feed and water were given unrestrictedly throughout the period of the experiment. The feed intake and weights of the pigs were recorded on weekly basis. Feed conversion ratio and daily weight gain were calculated and the study lasted for eight weeks. There was no significant (P>0.05) effect of feeders on final body weight, average daily weight gain, daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio. The overall  performance showed that combination of the feeders (T2) improved daily weight gain (369.71 g), average daily feed intake (1021.14 g) and had the best feed conversion ratio (2.99). It could be concluded that combination of concrete feeding trough and semi-automatic feeders improved the growth performance of weaned pigs. Keywords: concrete feeding trough, semi-automatic feeder, growth performance, economic analysi

Economics of smallholder chicken egg production among KAFACI project farmers in Southwest Nigeria

Deficiency in managerial capabilities, shortage of investible capital and high feed cost are major constraints limiting the growth and profitability of  smallholder chicken production in Southwest Nigeria. Consequently, empowerment programmes was initiated to train and empower farmers in chicken egg production. Sustainability of the effort depends on the ability of the farmers to generate enough returns for reinvestment into the  enterprise. This study evaluates the profitability of chicken egg production under the Korea-Africa Food and Agriculture Cooperation Initiative (KAFACI) project. Weekly data were collected during 2017 and 2018 production cycle on input quantity and cost, and quantity and prices of eggs produced. Analysis was by farm budget analysis. The results showed a decline in mortality rate in farms from 42.74% in 2017 to 7.76% in 2018.  Similarly, average egg production per farm increased from 3,977 eggs in 2017 to 18,254 eggs in 2018. Average total income per farm also increased from N225,599.58 in 2017 to N638,758.25 in 2018, whereas gross margin increased from a net loss of N157,097.73 in 2017 to a net benefit of  N281,025.93. Loss of revenue in 2017 was attributed to high mortality among laying birds. Cost of feed accounted for 59.34% of the average variable cost of producing table eggs. The study therefore recommended capacity building for farmers on farm-level formulation of costeffective feeding, as well as improving access of farmers to quality feed at subsidized cost, as an interim measure. Keywords: Chicken egg production, smallholder farmer, profitability, KAFACI project