EFFECT OF DIETARY SUBSTITUTION OF MAIZE WITH PALM PRESS FIBRE ON PERFORMANCE AND COST OF PRODUCING FINISHING BROILER CHICKEN

Abstract

The soaring cost of maize that make up about 60% of broiler feed production has resulted to exorbitant cost of the feed. This situation calls for discovery of alternatives. A research was therefore conducted to investigate the effect of substituting maize with Palm Press Fibre (PPF) in finisher broiler diet. 120 finishing broilers of 28 days post hatch was randomly assigned to 4 experimental diets in a complete randomized design arrangement. Diet C1 which was the control diet contained no PPF while in diets C2, C3 and C4 PPF meal replaced maize at 16.67%, 33.33% and 50% respectively making up 10%, 20% and 30% inclusion levels respectively. The broilers were raised on deep litter system, water and feed were provided adlibitum and proper routine management practices adopted. The feeding period lasted for 28days. Data was collected on weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, mortality and cost of producing the broilers. Broilers on the control diet was similar (P>0.05) with broilers on C2 group for weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio but significantly different (P<0.05) from C3 and C4 groups on these parameters while C3 and C4 groups were similar (P>0.05) on these parameters. The cost of raising 1Kg chicken was least for broilers in C2 group, followed by the control and then C3 while C4 gave the highest production cost. No mortality was encountered. 16% substitution of maize (10% inclusion) with PPF meal is therefore recommended for finishing broilers production.