GROWTH RESPONSE AND BLOOD PROFILE OF BROILER FINISHER FED VARYING LEVELS OF HIGH QUALITY CASSAVA PEELS AS REPLACEMENT FOR MAIZE
Keywords:
broiler finisher, high quality cassava peel, blood, growth, maizeAbstract
This study investigated the blood indices and growth performance of broiler finisher birds fed 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% High Quality Cassava Peels (HQCP) as replacement for maize. One hundred and fifty unsexed three week-old Abor Acre broiler chicks were randomly distributed to five treatment groups in a completely randomized design. Each treatment group was replicated three times with 10 birds per replicate. . The dietary treatments: T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 represented 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of HQCP replacement levels respectively. The study lasted for 21 days.
Performance indices were measured. . Blood samples were collected for haematological assay. The final body weight, daily weight gain, daily feed intake, FCR and feed cost/kg were significantly (p<0.05) influenced by the dietary treatments. Mortality was not affected by HQCP levels of inclusion in the diets. The cost of production of feed per/kg reduced significantly with increasing levels of HQCP in the diets. There was significant (p<0.05) effect of HQCP inclusion in diets on all haematological parameters except on the lymphocyte concentration. It was concluded that HQCP could replace 50% maize in broiler finisher diets without deleterious effect on growth performance and health status of broiler finisher birds.