Evaluation of the Carcass Parameters of Growers Fed on Cassava (Manihot Esculenta Crantz) Leaf and Root Mixture

Abstract

Rapid increase in human population and feed competition between human, poultry and other livestock resulted in shortage of poultry feed. Feed accounts the highest cost in poultry production. To make poultry production more profitable, it is a must to reduce production cost. Consequently, locally available non-conventional feed sources should be searched out and used in order to alleviate the problem. Thus, the present experiment studied the effect of inclusion rate of cassava leaf and root mixture (CLRM) on the performance of grower male white leghorn chicks at Wolaita Sodo ATVET College. The objective of the study was to investigate the carcass parameters of growers fed on CLRM. The collected cassava leaves and roots were separately chopped, dried, ground and then mixed in the ratio of 50:50 to get CLRM. Four diets were formulated, T1 contained no CLRM and served as the control, diets T2, T3 and T4 had CLRM at levels of 7.5, 11.25 and 15%, respectively. The grower chicks kept in a deep litter system and the feeding trial lasted for twelve weeks. A total of 180, eight weeks old grower chicks with average initial body weight of 495.68±26.74g (mean±SD) were randomly assigned to 4 experimental groups. Each group was replicated thrice with 15 chicks per replicate. A completely randomized design (CRD) experiment was used. The birds were given known amount of feed and water ad libitum throughout the experimental period. Data were collected on carcass characteristics. The chemical analysis showed that, the crude protein (CP) and metabolizable energy (ME) contents of CLRM were 14.5% and 3061.63 kcal/kg DM, respectively. The result of the experiment showed, there was no significant (P>0.05) difference in mean slaughter weight, carcass characteristics between treatments. The mean slaughter weight of T3, T4, T2 and T1 was 1743.7, 1692.3, 1661.0 and 1604.0 gram, respectively. Economic analysis showed that feed cost per bird was lower in the CLRM based diets than the control group. Similarly, the highest net return and marginal rate of return was noted for T3. The results showed that ration formulation using CLRM, like as in T3 of the present study resulted in better biological and economic performance in grower rations. It was concluded that feeding grower chicks with CLRM at 15% of the ration can be used without any adverse effect on the carcass weight of the birds.

Keywords Cassava leaf and root mixture, slaughter weight, carcass characteristics, white leghorn