Performance and Carcass Characteristics of Broiler Finishers Fed Different Levels of Poultry Offal Meal and Crayfish Waste Meal as Replacement for Fishmeal

Aims: There is need to supply birds with the nutrients required in order to maintain normal growth and reproduction. The escalating cost of dietary protein ingredients necessitates the search for alternatives in poultry production. The inclusion of crayfish waste (CW) and poultry offal (PO) in chicken feeds could reduce the cost of dietary proteins. The study evaluated the utilisation of CW and PO as dietary protein sources for chicken production. Study Design: One hundred and eighty day-old Marshall broiler chicks were used for the study in a completely randomized design. Proximate composition of the poultry offal meal and crayfish waste was determined using the analytical methods of AOAC (1996). Data generated were subjected to analysis of variance and significant treatment means were separated using Duncan Multiple Range Test. Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out in the Poultry Section of the Teaching and Research Farm of the Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu. The study lasted for nine weeks (five weeks for the starter period and four weeks for the finisher period). Methodology: One hundred and eighty day-old Marshall broiler chicks were used for the study. Thirty chicks were assigned to each dietary treatment, which was replicated three times in a completely randomized design. Six experimental diets containing fish meal (FM), crayfish waste meal (CWM) and poultry offal meal (POM) were used thus: control diet which was diet 1 contained 2.1% FM of the total ingredients, while diets 2,3,4,5 and 6 contained 2.79% POM, 3.92%CWM, 2.09% POM + 0.98%CWM, 1.40% POM + 1.96% CWM, and 0.69% POM + 2.94%CWM, respectively. Birds were fed the starter diets for five weeks after which the finisher diets were fed for four weeks. Results: The CWM contained 35.0, 12.9 and 3.9% CP, CF, and EE, respectively and 1454Kcal/kg ME, while the POM contained 51.9, 1.8 and 6.2% CP, CF and EE correspondingly with 2600Kcal/kg ME. However, FM contained 65.1, 0.8 and 6.0% CP, CF and EE with corresponding ME of 2860Kcal/kg. The control birds (diet 1) and diet 6 consumed 2.98kg similar to diets 2 (2.97kg) but differed significantly (P =0.05) from those on diets 3, 4, and 5. The protein efficiency ratio (PER) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were similar for all treatments. Chicken fed diet 3 had an eviscerated weight of 84.27% which was significantly (P=.05) better than others. Conclusion: Diets 4 and 6 which contained 2.09%POM: 0.98% CWM and 0.69% POM: 2.94% CWM respectively were identified as the most cost effective treatments and selected as the best inclusion levels