Effect of Pito Mash (Sorghum Brewers Waste) on the Growth Performance of Local Guinea Fowl (Numidameleagris)

Abstract

A 10 – week on farm feeding trial was conducted to determine the effect of dry ‘pito’ mash on the growth performance of local guinea fowl when incorporated in their diet at 0% and 20%. Two treatment diets were formulated, control and ‘pito’ mash diets. The dry ‘pito’ mash was used at 0% in the control and 20% inclusion level in the ‘pito’ mash diet respectively. Two groups of 50 birds each were randomly assigned to the two treatment diets with no replication in a two sample test design on the farm. Feed and water were provided ad libitum throughout the experiment. The experiment lasted for 10 weeks (9 – 20 weeks of age). Data collected were feed intake, weight gain, final live weight, mortality and feed cost. The data was analyzed by student t-test using Genstat. The feed intake, weight gain, final live weight, mortality and feed cost were not significantly (P>0.05) affected. It was concluded that ‘pito’ mash can be incorporated in guinea fowl diet at 20% with favourable effects on their growth performance. Cost of feed was also reduced by 13.8% when ‘pito’ mash was fed to the guinea fowls.

Keywords: Pito mash, sorghum brewers’ spent grain, growth performance, local guinea fowl