Utilization of sun-dried maize offal with blood meal in diets for broiler chickens

Abstract

Sun-dried blend of maize offal and blood (SDMBM) was analyzed and its effect on the performance of broiler chickens (Anak-2000 strain) evaluated. Fresh blood prevented from coagulation, mixed with maize offal, was sun-dried, ground, mixed again with blood and ground into a meal after drying again. The crude protein, fat, fibre, ash, ADF and gross energy contents of SDMBM were, 362.0, 45.5, 31.8, 69.3, 52.3 g/kg DM and 4.245 kcal/g, respectively. It was adequate in all essential amino acids for growing broiler chickens except methionine. Eighty 14-day-old commercial broiler chicks were randomly allocated to four dietary treatments (fed ad libitum; four replicates each) consisting the control diet (0 g SDMBM/kg diet), which contained fishmeal, groundnut cake and soybean meal, and three other diets (50, 100 and 150 g SDMBM/kg diet). In a feeding trial, the starter (14 to 35 d) and finisher (35 to 49 d) dietary treatments did not have significant impact (P>0.05) on body weight gain, efficiency of feed conversion, mortality and final body weights. The control diet was inferior (P<0.05) to 50, 100 and 150 g SDMBM/kg diets for feed cost per unit weight gain in the starter phase, 100 g SDMBM/kg diet in the finisher phase, and 100 and 150 g SDMBM/kg diets for the whole period (14 to 49 d). Overall, the 100 and 150 g superior (P<0.05) to the control diet in cost of production per unit weight gain and all the SDMBM diets greater than control in economic benefit per unit weight gain. Results suggest that dietary SDMBM up to 150 g/kg diet has a positive effect on broiler performance and can totally replace more expensive fishmeal.