Performances and haematological profile of broilers fed fermented dried cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz)

Abstracts The effect of feeding dried cassava (gathot) on the performances and haematological profile of broilers was investigated. There were four dietary treatments arranged in a completely randomized design, i.e. control diet and diets containing 25,50 or 100 g/kg gathot. The birds were provided with the treatment diets ad libitum from 8 to 35 days of age. Body weght, feed intake and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were determined weekly. At day 32, the birds were blood sampled, sacrificed and immediately the internal organs and abdominal fat were removed and weighed. Feeding gathot at various levels did not affect (P>0.05) the growth and FCR, but tended (P=0.09) to reduce the feed cost per kilogramme live weight gain of broilers. The dietary treatments did not cause toxicological effect on broilers, indicated by the values of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) that were not different from those in the control diet. Dietary inclusion of gathot lowered heterophils to lymphocytes ratio (H/L ratio) (P