EFFECT OF FEEDING CASSAVA PEELS AND PLANTAIN PEELS ON PERFORMANCE AND SERUM BIOCHEMISTRY WEANER PIGS

Abstract

The experiment was conducted to determine the effect of feeding agro-industrial by-product (cassava peels and plantain peels) on performance, serum biochemistry and cost of production of weaner pigs. A total of forty-eight pigs were used for the study. The animals were randomly allotted to three treatments and three replicates with four animals per replicate. The treatments include T1 - 100% concentrates (control), T2 (cassava peels supplemented diet), T3 (plantain peels supplemented diet). The diets were fed in ratio of 40:60 (concentrates: supplement). The experiment lasted for 6 weeks. Parameters measured were performance (feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion ratio), serum metabolites (HDL, AST, ALT, Glucose, Total protein, Triglycerides). All data were analysed using ANOVA procedure of the SAS 2010. The result obtained showed that there was significant difference (P< 0.05) in the final weight and FCR of the pigs placed on the different treatment. The final weight for pigs on treatment I was significantly (P< 0.05) higher (9.17) compared to pigs on treatment 2 (cassava peels) and treatment 3 (plantain peels). The FCR was also shown to be better in pigs on treatment I with mean value of 4.60 compared to the other treatments. There was also a significant difference (P< 0.05) in the Triglyceride, HDL, AST and ALT levels of the serum biochemical indices of the pigs across the treatments. The triglyceride level of treatment 1 (41.29) was not different (P>0.05) from treatment 3 (51.61) but significantly different (P< 0.05) from 2 (81.55). The AST values for treatment 1 (26.00) was significantly different (P< 0.05) from treatment 2 (29.74) and treatment 3 (57.77). It can be concluded that supplementation of the diet using cassava peels and plantain peels does not have any adverse effect on the performance and health status of the weaner pigs. The use of cassava peels and plantain peels conferred better economic benefits in terms of cost per gain which reduces production cost.