FAECAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MICROBE-FERMENTED CASSAVA TUBER WASTE OF DIFFERENT MIXING RATIOS AS FEED INGREDIENTS IN ISA BROWN LAYER'S FEED

Abstract

This study evaluated the nutritional modification of cassava wastes through Aspergillus niger (ATCC: 16404) fermentation and its faecal characteristics on ISA Brown Layers. Cassava peels and stumps were microbially fermented at three different mixing ratios for 5 days and incorporated into ISA Brown layers' diets. Dietary treatments (T1-T4) comprised the control and three different mixing ratios of microbe-fermented cassava stump (MFCST) and peel (MFCP): 0:0 (T1, the control), 66.67:33.33 (T2), 33.33:66.67(T2) and 50:50 (T4), respectively. Two hundred point-of-lay ISA Brown layers were randomly allotted to the four dietary treatments with 10 birds per replicate and five replicates per treatment in a completely randomized experiment that lasted for six weeks. The faecal characteristics of the birds were taken as response criteria. Results showed that all faecal parameters like total faecal output, faecal dry matter, faecal moisture, volume, density and consistency did not differ significantly (p>0.05) from the control. Faecal bacterial isolates showed that Salmonella spp., Pseudomonas aureginosa, E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus had 50%, 75%, 75% and 100% frequency of occurrence in the faecal samples of the birds fed T1-T4 while the fungal isolates showed that Penicillium spp., Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus had 25%, 100% and 100% respectively. The fermented cassava tuber waste products were thus able to inhibit the faecal growth of Penicillium spp. than in the conventional feed which conversely was able to mitigate faecal bacterial growth better than the cassava tuber waste products. In conclusion, the results suggest that these fermented cassava tuber wastes as potential feed ingredients warrants further investigation of their mycotoxin mitigation capabilities.