REPLACEMENT VALUE OF SUN DRIED CASSAVA PEEL MEAL FOR MAIZE IN BROILER RATION

Abstract

A research was conducted to determine the replacement value of cassava peel meal for maize as it affects the growth performance of broiler birds. One hundred and fifty (150) Abor - Acre strain of day old broiler chicks were subjected to five dietary treatments in which maize was replaced at different inclusion levels with sun dried cassava peel meal (CPM). The diets were TI (100% maize, 0%CPM), T2 (75% maize, 25% CPM), T3 (50% maize, 50% CPM), T4 (25% maize, 75% CPM), T5 (0% maize, 100% CPM). Thirty birds were allotted to each dietary treatment and each treatment was replicated three times with each replicate having ten birds in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The overall performance characteristics of the birds throughout the 56 days of the experiment showed no significant (P>0.05) difference in the feed intake while significant (P<0.05) differences were observed in the weight gain, feed conversion ratio and feed efficiency ratio. The performance of birds on diet T1 was superior to birds on the other diets in weight gain, feed conversion ratio (FCR) and feed efficiency ratio (FER). The cost of feed per kg, cost reduction % and the cost of feed consumed per bird reduced as the level of CPM inclusion increased. Feed cost per kg weight gain was highest in diet T3 while diet T4 had the least. It was concluded that cassava peel meal can be included in broiler finisher diet to replace 50% of the maize without having a deleterious effect on growth performance while the cost of feed per kg was reduced by 9.86%. The use of cassava peel meal will improve the profit margins of broiler producers.