Open AccessNutritional value of tiger nut (Cyperus esculentus) offal on the performance of broiler chickens
Author(s) -
S. E. Alu,
F. S. Oseze,
E. J. Ogoshi
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
nigerian journal of animal production
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 0331-2062
DOI - 10.51791/njap.v47i1.227
Subject(s) - nut , cyperus , broiler , starter , tiger , zoology , biology , body weight , significant difference , feed conversion ratio , food science , microbiology and biotechnology , mathematics , horticulture , statistics , structural engineering , algorithm , engineering , endocrinology
Tiger nut offal is one of the common agro by products available in appreciable quantity all yaer round especially within the northern part of Nigeria. Its nutritional value is somewhat close to those of maize offal. Therefore, a 56 - day experiment was conducted to evaluate the response of broiler chickens fed graded levels of Tiger nut offal (TNO) as an energy source. Five iso-nitrogenous and iso-caloric diets tagged T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5, were compounded to contain 23 and 20% crude protein and 2800 and 3000 kcal/kg of metabolizable energy for starter and finisher phases, respectively. The TNO was included at 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20% levels in treatments, respectively such that T1 served as the control diet. A total of 200, one day old chicks were allotted to the 5 treatment groups, replicated 4 times and each replicate was allotted 10 birds. Parameters evaluated included growth rate, economics of production, blood parameters and carcass characteristics. The results showed that there was no significant variation (P>0.05) in the values obtained for growth parameters, economics of production, haematological parameters and serum biochemistry. However, there was significant difference (P<0.05) in dressed weight (1155.00 vs. 1350.00 vs. 1350.00 vs. 1525.00 and 1530.00 gbird-1 ) and shanks weight (59.50 vs. 100.00 vs. 67.00 vs. 85.00 and 60.00 gbird-1 ) which increased across the treatments as the levels of inclusion of TNO increased in the diets. Birds fed the diets 15 (T4) and 20% (T5) gave the best results compared to those fed the control and other levels. From the results of this experiment, poultry farmer can use up to 20% of TNO as a replacement for conventional energy source in the diet of broiler chickens without compromising the meat quality and health status of the birds.