Performance and economy of production indices of broiler finishers fed cassava grits based diets

Abstract

A 6 week feeding trial was conducted to assess the performance and economy of production of broilers fed cassava grit based diets. Cassava grit was used to replace maize at 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% constituting diets 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, respectively. A total of 180, 18 day old broiler chicks, were randomly allotted to the five (5) experimental diets, each treatment had three replicates of twelve birds each. Diet 1 was 100% maize based and served as the control diet (CD). Parameters considered included initial weight, final weight, feed intake, Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR); and economy of production. The results of the study showed that there were significant (P<0.05) differences in the feed intake of broilers fed graded level of cassava grit. While the highest feed intake (139.06g/bird/day) was obtained in broilers fed CD, the least feed intake was recorded in diet 5 (80.92g/bird/day). The values obtained for final weight and weight gain were significant (P<0.05). The highest final weight and weight gain were recorded in birds fed CD (2430g/bird and 50.68/g/bird/day, respectively) while the lowest values (1705g/bird and 33.84g g/bird/day) were recorded in treatment 5. The best FCR 2.39 was noticed in broilers fed diet 5 that was lower (P<0.05) than diet 2 (2.95). Economy of production result revealed that cost per kg of feed increased with increase in the levels of cassava in the diets. While cost of feed per kg of weight gain reduced with increase in the levels of cassava. However, birds fed 75% and 100% grit based diets recorded similar (P<0.05) values and lower than values recorded by birds fed diets 1, 2 and 3. Conclusively, cassava grit could successfully replace maize at 75% in the diet of broiler finishers.