Utilisation of a Poultry Wastes Meal as a Replacement for Fishmeal in Diets of Clarias gariepinus

Abstract

With increasing production from Nigeria’s animal production sector and the attendant increased turnover in wastes generation from processing plants, there is the need to for effective utilization of wastes for a meal in animal production. The effect of replacing fishmeal with a newly available commercial poultry waste meal (PWM) in the diets of Clarias gariepinus was investigated. The proximate composition of PWM was determined using standard procedures. Five isonitrogenous diets (40% Crude protein) were produced using PWM to replace fishmeal at 0% (PW1), 25% (PW2), 50% (PW3), 75% (PW4) and 100% (PW5) levels. Diets were fed for 70 days at 3% body weight daily in two installments, to three hundred C. gariepinus (8.50±0.01g) randomly distributed into 15 plastic aquaria at 20 fish per 30L of water. Mean weight gain (MWG), Average daily weight gain (ADWG), Feed conversion ratio (FCR), Specific growth rate (SGR), Profit index (PI) and Incidence of cost (IC) were determined. MWG, ADWG, Feed intake, FCR and SGR showed no significant difference (P>0.05) in PW1, PW2, PW3 and PW4. Fish survival ranged from 77.77% in PW5 to 95.55% in PW3. Although PI and IC did not vary significantly in all treatments, PW4 recorded the highest PI (3.54) and least IC (0.26) values. Results of this study reveal that the poultry waste meal can successfully replace 75% of fishmeal in the diet of C. gariepinus juveniles when growth and economic performance are considered.