MINERAL UTILIZATION BY WEANLING AND GROWING PIGS FED DIFFERENT CASSAVA PLANT MEAL PRODUCTS AND MAIZE
Keywords:
Cassava Plant meal, digestibility, tender cassava stem meal, unpeeled cassava root meal, large whiteAbstract
The study aimed at evaluating the apparent mineral digestibility of weaning and growing pigs fed cassava plant meal (CPM) and maize-based diets to determine its utilization. Three Cassava plant meal products (CPMPs) were developed comprising of tender stem harvested 5 cm from the top of the plant, unpeeled cassava root (UCRM), and cassava leaves collected after the roots were harvested. They were sundried for 5–7 days and milled. The CPMP I contained 66.67 % UCRM, 27.78 % cassava leaf meal (CLM), and 5.63 % tender stem meal, CPMP 2 contained 71.43 % UCRM, 23.80 % CLM and 4.77 % tender stem meal while CPMP 3 contain 75 % UCRM, 20.83 % CLM and 4.17 % tender stem meal. Sixteen weaner pigs and sixteen growing pigs weighing (9.70±0.57 kg) and (18.50 ±1.30 kg) were randomly allotted to developed CPMPs and maize. The animals were kept in metabolic cages for 7 days and fed 100 % experimental diets. Water was supplied ad libitum while feed was supplied at 4% of their weight. The fecal samples were collected daily, weighed, oven-dried, and analyzed for proximate composition. The sexperiment lasted 21 days. The result of mineral digestibility by weaning pigs showed significant differences (P < 0.05) for all minerals except copper. Mineral digestibility of growing pigs showed significant differences (P < 0.05) for all the minerals while CMP 3-fed pigs showed superiority in the utilization of calcium (51.83 %), Mg (53.97 %), and Manganese (97.15 %) compared to other CPMPs. The study concluded that CPM product 3 minerals such as Ca, Mn, Cu, Mg and P are best digested and utilized by weaner and grower pigs compared to
CPM Products 1 and 2.