GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF FINISHED BROILER BIRDS AS INFLUENCED BY DIFFERENT DIETARY LEVELS OF TIGER NUT WASTE MEAL (CYPERUS ESCULENTUS)

Abstract

A total of one hundred and fifty (150) four weeks old broiler birds were used to study the growth response to diets containing different levels of tigernut wastes meal (TNWM). The birds were randomly allotted to five dietary treatments of three replicates each containing 30 and 10 birds respectively. The treatment diets comprised 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% of tiger nut waste meal (TNWM) as replacement for maize to form treatment diets 1 (control), 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively. The controldiet and Treatment 2  (25%TNWM) showed significantly (P<0.05) higher weight gain followed by treatment 3, 4 and 5 in that order. The feed intake showed a reversed trend as consumption significantly (P<0.05) increased with increasing dietary level of TNWM. The most favourable feedconversion ratio was obtained  with birds in control and treatment 2 with values that weresignificantly (P<0.05) higher than birds  in other treatment groups. The percentage reduction in feed cost per kilogram of diet showed a drastic reduction (P<0.05) as dietary TNWM increased in the diet. However, it did not correspond with percentage savings on feed cost which showed a negative trend as dietary as dietary TNWM increased. It is concluded that up to 25% level of maize could be replaced with TNWM without any adverse effect on performance but with favourable cost savings.