Growth performance of broiler chickens fed maize offal and crayfish-waste based diets

This study was conducted to evaluate the value of maize offal and cray fish waste meals as the main energy and protein sources respectively in broiler chicken diets. One hundred and twenty day-old Lohmann Brown broiler chicks were randomly allotted into two treatment groups of three replicates of 60 and 20 birds, respectively. Maize offal and crayfish waste meals were used to replace maize and soybean/fishmeal, respectively in the control diet (T1 ) to form (T2 ). Growth parameters monitored were final live weight, daily weight gain, feed 2 conversion ratio, internal and external body linear measurements were evaluated were statistically analysed using the studentized t-test at 5% and 1% probability. Results showed significantly (P<0.05) higher values in all the parameters apart from feed intake for birds on the control diet. The final live weight of birds on the test diet (T2 ) only reached that of the control at 10 weeks of age. The phenotypic correlation of body weight and linear body measurements for birds on both the control and test treatment diets were high and positively significant (P<0.01). However, birds on the control diet had the longest body parts than those of the test diet, likewise the internal body parts. When expressed based on percentage body weight, birds on the test diet tended to have longer external and internal body parts. It is concluded that if maize offal and crayfish waste are to be used as total replacement for maize, soybean and fishmeal, the period of broiler production should be extended from 8 weeks to 10 weeks for birds to reach market weight and with attendance lower cost of production.