ABSTRACT
Four studies were carried out to evaluate three grasses (Gamba, Elephant and Guinea) as alternative feed resource for broiler chickens. Nutrient composition and anti-nutritional factors of the various grasses were evaluated in experiment I. In experiment II, the true metabolizable energy of the three grasses were respectively determined. Experiment III, Gamba, Elephant and Guinea grass meals were incorporated into diets at 10% inclusion level. In experiment IV, graded level of elephant grass meal were incorporated into broiler diet. One hundred and twenty (120) day old Abor Acre strain of broiler chickens were used in experiment III and IV respectively. The birds were randomly assigned to 4 treatment diets, replicated into 3 with 10 (ten) birds per replicate in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Each of the experiments lasted for eight weeks. There were significant differences (P<0.05) among various grasses for all the parameters considered in experiment I. The crude protein was least in Gamba grass meal (14.73) and best in Elephant grass meal (19.23). The Gamba grass meal had the highest (P<0.05) gross energy of 3.93kcal/g, followed by Elephant grass meal 3.88kcal/kg. The ash was least in Guinea grass meal (6.07) and best in Elephant grass meal (8.66). The Gamba grass meal had the best content of Phosphorus (0.41%), magnesium (0.32%) and Guinea grass meal had the highest value for potassium (0.82%), while Elephant grass meal had the best value for sodium (0.29%). Elephant grass meal was significantly (P<0.05) superior in Iron, Zinc and manganese, while Guinea grass meal had the best significant (P<0.05) value for copper. All the anti-nutritional factors measured were at tolerable level to broiler chickens. In experiment II Gamba grass meal had the highest (P<0.05) true metabolisable energy of 3.91 kcal/kg, followed by Elephant grass meal (3.86). In experiment III, the growth performance of birds on dietIII compared (P>0.05) with birds on dietI (control diet). The carcass characteristics of birds fed dietIII also compared (P>0.05) with values for live weight, bled weight, de-feathered weight and dressed weight of the control dietI. On blood constituents, broiler fed dietIV had the lowest value in red blood cell (RBC) (2.18 x 106 lµl) count, which indirectly increased the value of the MCV. Biochemical indices showed significant differences (P<0.05) for total protein and globulin. Broilers fed dietIII compared favourably with broilers fed dietI in terms of cost of feed consumed, cost of production, revenue and gross margin. There were increase in size of the gizzard, small intestine, large intestine and proventriculus of broilers fed dietII, dietIII and dietIV as compared to broilers fed dietI but reduced in the abdominal fat of broilers fed dietII, dietIII and dietIV. In the histopatological test, the grasses showed no detrimental effect on the broilers fed diets DI, DII, DIII and DIV. In experiment IV, broilers on dietII compared (P>0.05) with those fed dietI in growth performance, carcass characteristics and organ proportion. The MCV of broilers fed diet DII compared (P>0.05) with the broilers fed dietI in haematological parameters. There were significant (P<0.05) differences in some of the serum indices. Broilers fed dietII was statistically (P>0.05) similar with broilers fed dietI in the total protein, albumin, globulin and creatinine. The cost per kilogram weight gain, cost of production, revenue and gross margin of broiler fed dietII were statistically (P>0.05) similar to the control dietI. Broilers fed diets DII, DIII and DIV which in various inclusion levels of elephant grass meal had heavier weights for heart, liver, gizzard, large intestine, proventriculus, crop and pancrease as compared to broilers fed dietI but reduced abdominal fat. From the reports above, it could be concluded that Elephant grass meal can partially replace maize at 10% inclusion (DietII) to give an optimal performance for broiler chicken.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Title page i
Declaration ii
Certification iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgement v
Table of Contents vi
List of Tables xiii
List of Plates xv
Abstract xvi
CHAPTER 1:
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background Information 1
1.2
Objective of Study 2
1.2.1 The
study are to determine 2
1.3
Statement of Problem 3
1.4
Justification of Study 4
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1.
Nutrient Requirements of Broiler Chicken in the Humid Tropices 5
2.1.1.
Constraints to broiler chicken nutrition 5
2.1.2.
The need for dietary alternatives 6
2.1.3.
The nutritional impact of forages in poultry diet 7
2.2.
Grasses 8
2.3.
Origin and Geographic Distribution/ Botany of Gamba grass 8
2.3.1.
Botany of Gamba grass 9
2.3.2. Agronomy of Gamba grass 9
2.3.3.
Utilization of Gamba grass 9
2.3.4.
Gamba grass used as feed for animals 10
2.4.0.
Origin and Geographic Distribution/ Botany of Elephant grass 10
2.4.1.
Botany of Elephant grass 10
2.4.2.
Agronomy of Elephant grass 11
2.4.3.
Utilization of Elephant grass 11
2.4.4.
Elephant grass used as feed for animals 12
2.5.0.
Origin and Geographic Distribution/ Botany of Guinea grass 12
2.5.1.
Botany of Guinea grass 12
2.5.2.
Agronomy of Guinea grass 13
2.5.3.
Utilization of Guinea grass 13
2.5.4.
Feed value of Guinea grass 13
2.6. Proximate Composition of Gamba, Elephant
and Guinea Grass 14
2.6.1. Crude protein and Amino acids 14
2.6.2.1.
Crude protein and Amino acid of Gamba grass 14
2.6.2.2.
Crude protein and amino acid of Guinea grass 14
2.6.2.3..
Crude protein and amino acid of elephant grass. 14
2.6.3.
Gross energy 15
2.6.4.
Crude Fibre 15
2.6.5.
Ether Extract 16
2.6.6.
Ash 16
2.7. Challenges Associated with Feeding Forages to
Chickens 17
2.7.1.
High fibre content in forages 17
2.7.2.
High moisture content in Forages 18
2.7.3.
Non-protein nitrogen (NPN) 18
2.7.4.
Anti-nutritional factors 19
2.7.4.1.
Tannins 19
2.7.4.2. Saponins 19
2.7.4.3.
Oxalate 20
2.7.4.4.
Phytate 21
2.7.4.5.
Mycotoxins 21
2.8. Mechanism of Toxicity 21
2.9.
Methods to reduce the level of anti-nutritional substances in the feed 22
2.10.
Growth performance of broilers fed diets containing Guinea grass 23
2.11.
Carcass Quality 24
2.12.
Organ Proportion 24
2.13.
Hematological Parameters
25
2.13.1.
Red blood cells (RBC) 25
2.13.2.
White blood cells (WBC) 26
2.13.3.
Packed Cell Volume (PCV) 26
2.13.4.
Haemoglobin (Hb) 27
2.13.5.
Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) 27
2.13.6.
Mean Corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) 28
2.13.7.
Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) 28
2.14.
Serum Biochemistry 29
2.14.1.
Total Protein 29
2.14.2.
Globulin 30
2.14.3.
Albumin 30
2.14.4.
Urea 31
2.14.5.
Creatinine 31
2.14.6.
Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) 31
2.15.
Metabolizable energy (ME) 32
2.16.
Histopathology 32
CHAPTER
3: MATERIALS AND METHODS
3.1
Experimental Site 33
3.2 Procurement and Processing of the
Experimental Material 33
3.3
Experiment 1 33
3.3.1
Chemical Evaluation of the Test Materials 33
3.3.1.1
Proximate compositions and gross energy of Gamba, Elephant
and Guinea grass 34
3.3.1.2 Determination of Crude protein: 34
3.3.2. Mineral determination 34
3.3.3. Determination of Anti-nutritional Factors 35
3.3.3.1.
Determination of Oxalate 35
3.3.3.2.
Determination of phytate 35
3.3.3.3.
Determination of Saponin 35
3.3.3.4.
Determination of tannins 35
3.4.
Experiment 2 35
3.4.1.
Determination of metabolisable energy of the test materials 35
3.5. Experiment 3 37
3.5.1.
Effect of Gamba, Elephant and Guinea grass meals on the
performance of Broiler 37
3.5.2.
Experimental Birds and Design 37
3.5.3.
Experimental diets 37
3.6
Experiment 4 38
3.6.1
Effect of graded levels of Elephant grass meals on the
performance of broilers. 38
3.6.1.1
Experimental diets 38
3.6.1.2 Experimental birds and procedure 39
3.7
Data Collection 40
3.7.1
Growth Parameters 40
3.7.2
Evaluation of the carcass characteristics and organ proportions of Broiler
chickens fed graded levels of Gamba,
Elephant and Guinea Grass meal. 41
3.7.3
Histopathological Evaluation of Broiler Chickens fed graded levels of Gamba,
Elephant and Guinea Grass Meals. 42
3.7.4
Evaluation of the Heamatological parameters and serum chemistry of Broiler
chickens fed Gamba, Elephant and
Guinea Grass Meals. 42
3.8 Gross Margin / Economics of the Diets 44
3.9
Experimental Design and Statistical Analysis 44
CHAPTER 4:
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Experiment I 45
4.1.1 Proximate composition and gross energy of Gamba,
Elephant and Guinea grass meals 45
4.1.2 Macro and micro mineral composition of Gamba,
Elephant and Guinea grass meals 49
4.1.3 Anti-nutritional factors composition of Gamba,
Elephant
and
Guinea grass meals. 53
4.2 Experiment II 56
4.2.1
True metabolisable energy value of Gamba, Elephant and
Guinea grass meals 56
4.3
Experiment III 57
4.3.1
Performance of broilers fed diets containing different grass meals. 57
4.3.2
Carcass characteristics of broiler chickens fed different grass meal diet 59
4.3.3 Organ
characteristics of broilers chicken fed different grass meal diet 60
4.3.4 Blood profile of broiler chickens fed different
grass meal diets 62
4.3.5 Serum chemistry of broiler chickens fed
different grass meal diets 63
4.3.6 Economics of production of broiler fed different
grass meal diets 64
4.4 EXPERIMENT IV 65
4.4.1 Performance of broiler chickens fed graded
levels of Elephant grass meal 65
4.4.2 Carcass characteristics of broiler chickens fed
graded level of
Elephant grass meal 67
4.4.3
Internal organ characteristic of broiler chickens fed diets containing
graded levels of Elephant grass meal 68
4.4.4
Hematology value of broiler chickens fed diets containing graded
levels of Elephant grass meal. 70
4.4.5 Serum chemistry of broiler chickens fed diet
containing graded
levels
of Elephant grass meal. 71
4.4.6 Economics of production of broiler chickens fed
with graded
levels
of Elephant grass meal. 72
4.5 Histopathological results and Discussion 74
4.5.1 Liver of broilers fed diets I, II, III and IV 74
4.5.2 Spleen of broilers fed diets I, II, III and IV 75
4.5.3 Gizzard of broilers fed diets I, II, III and IV 77
4.5.4 Proventriculus of broilers fed diets I, II, III
and IV 79
4.5.5 Heart of broilers fed diets I, II, III
and IV 80
4.5.6 Lungs of broilers fed diets I, II, III and IV 82
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1
Conclusion 84
5.2.
Recommendations 85
References 87
Appendix
LIST
OF TABLE
1:
Proximate composition of maize, Gamba grass, Elephant grass and
Guinea grass 17
2:
Normal range of haematological values for broiler chicken 29
3.1:
Percentage Composition of straight broiler chickens diets containing
Gamba,
Elephant and Guinea grass meals 38
3.2:
Percentage composition of broiler chickens diets containing graded
levels
of Elephant grass meal (0-56days). 39
4.1: Experiment 1: Proximate composition and gross
energy of Gamba, Elephant
and
Guinea grass meal 48
4.2: Macro mineral composition of Gamba, Elephant and
Guinea grass meal 51
4.3: Micro mineral composition of Gamba, Elephant and
Guinea grass meal 51
4.4: Anti-nutritional factors composition of Gamba,
Elephant
and Guinea
grass meals 54
4.5: The true metabolisable energy of Gamba, Elephant
and
Guinea grass
meals 57
4.6:
Growth Performance of broiler chicken fed diets containing
10% of Processed Gamba, Elephant and
Guinea grass meal 58
4.7: Carcass characteristics of broiler
chicken fed diets containing
10% of Processed Gamba, Elephant and
Guinea grass 60
4.8: Organ proportion of broiler chicken fed
diets containing
10% of Processed Gamba, Elephant and
Guinea grass 61
4.9:
Heamatological Parameters of broiler chicken fed diets containing
10% of Processed Gamba, Elephant and
Guinea grass 62
4.10:
Serum chemistry of broiler chicken fed diets containing
10% of Processed Gamba, Elephant and
Guinea grass 64
4.11:
Economics of production of broiler chicken fed diets containing
10% of Processed Gamba, Elephant and
Guinea grass 65
4.12:
Growth Performance of broiler chicken fed diets containing
graded levels of processed Elephant
grass meal 66
4.13:
Carcass characteristics of broiler chicken fed diets containing
graded levels of processed Elephant
grass meal 68
4.14: Organ proportion of broiler chicken fed diets
containing
graded levels of processed Elephant
grass meal 69
4.15: Heamatological parameter of broiler chicken
fed diets containing
graded levels of processed Elephant
grass meal 71
4.16: Serum chemistry of broiler chicken fed diets
containing
graded
levels of processed Elephant grass meal 72
4.17:
Economics of production of broiler chicken fed diets containing
graded levels of processed Elephant grass
meal 73
LIST
OF PLATES
4.1: Shows the liver of broilers fed diets I, II, III
and IV 74
4.2: Shows the spleen of broilers fed diets I, II, III
and IV 75
4.3: Shows the gizzard of broilers fed diets I, II,
III and IV 77
4.4: Shows the proventriculus of broilers fed diets I,
II, III and IV 79
4.5: Shows the heart of broilers fed diets I, II, III
and IV 80
4.6: Shows the lungs of broilers fed diets I, II, III
and IV 82
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
To bridge the gap in protein intake
in developing countries where animal protein intake is below recommended standard,
poultry production will help play important role (Onyimonyi et al., 2009; Melesse et al., 2011). Poultry is practically
kept by every household in Nigeria especially in the rural communities. Poultry
feeding however stands out as a major item of cost in poultry production. It
accounts for 70 – 80% of cost of production (Ndelekwute et al., 2018). Poultry meat is an important provider of the
essential polyunsaturated fatty (PUFAs), especially the omega-3Fatty acids and
some trace minerals and vitamins (Yu et
al., 2008; Farrell 2013). Out of the
several challenges facing the poultry industries in the tropics, feed
availability remain the most pressing (Girma et al., 2011). Hence, the need to search for alternative sources to
bridge the gap created by the inadequate supply of these expensive conventional
protein and energy sources.
One
possible source of cheap feedstuff is the use of forage, which can bring about
reduction in the amount of conventional feed ingrediets required by the birds.
The feeding of forage to chickens is not a common practice in commercial
production. They can serve as a supplement to chickens in a basic concentrate
diet in order to meet the fibre and some of the vitamins requirements (Ndelekwute et al., 2018).
It can also serve as a back-up of nutrients such as vitamins, fibre, protein
and compounds like omega-3 fatty acid (The Poultry Site, 2013). According to
Obua et al. (2012), the nutrient
content of Guinea, Elephant and Gamba grasses were shown to have 9.54, 13.82
and 11.85% crude protein content respectively. In the same manner, they are
also said to be rich in ash (6.76 – 6.96%), ether extract (2.51 – 2.78%), crude
fibre (23.62 – 34.18%), Nitrogen Free Extract (33.41 – 49.92%) and
metabolizable energy 2244.41, 1902.72 and 2211.17Kcal/kg respectively for
Guinea, Elephant and Gamba grasses.
Chicken
is a single-stomached (monogastric) specie as opposed to ruminants. Monogastric
are animals that cannot efficiently digest fibrous feed (feed with high level
of lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose) but depend on high
quality, low fibre diets (Choct, 2001; Slominski, 2011; Ndelekwute et al., 2018). Ingested feed is
digested by acid and enzymes in the stomach, while soluble components are
absorbed in the small intestine. Indigestible components such as non-starch
polysaccharides, fibre-bound protein reach the ceaca and together with
endogenous secretion are fermented by the inhabiting microbes (Siriwan, 2012)
1.2. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
This research work aims at evaluating
three common forages as alternative energy sources in broiler diets.
1.2.1.
The study are to determine the;
- Chemical composition of Elephant,
Guinea and Gamba grass.
- Metabolizable energy (ME) of
Elephant, Guinea and Gamba grass.
- Growth performance of broiler
chicken fed Elephant, Guinea and Gamba grass as both energy and fibre substitutes
in maize – based diets.
- Carcass and organ characteristics
of broiler chicken fed Elephant, Guinea and Gamba grasses as both energy and
fibre substitutes in maize – based diets.
- Hematology and serum chemistry of
broiler chicken fed Elephant, Guinea and Gamba grass as both energy and fibre
substitutes in maize – based diets.
- Histopathology of broiler chickens fed Elephant, Guinea and Gamba
grass as both energy and fibre
substitutes in maize – based diets.
- Economic efficiency of broilers fed
Elephant, Guinea and Gamba grass as both energy and fibre substitutes in maize
– based diets.
- Effect of graded levels of Elephant
grass on the performence of broiler chickens.
1.3. STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
- The use of conventional energy
feedstuffs such as maize, sorghum, and millet in livestock feeding, especially
in monogastric nutrition has generated serious competition between humans, industry
and the livestock.
- The conventional energy feedstuffs
are scarce, highly competitive and expensive, thereby resulting in increased
cost of livestock production.
- The use of forages as feedstuff for
broiler is yet to be fully exploited and accepted in poultry nutrition.
- The safe and economically feasible
dietary inclusion levels of these forages (Elephant, Guinea and Gamba grass) in
broiler chickens are yet to be established.
- The economic efficiency of broilers
fed these forages (Elephant, Guinea and Gamba grass) are yet to be established.
1.4. JUSTIFICATION
- Forages are presently
under-utilized by both humans and chickens due to inadequate research of their
nutritive value.
- The success of this research work
would inadvertently reduced the quantity of maize and other cereal grains
required in the formulation of Broiler chicken feed in Nigeria.
- This would reduce the cost of
broiler production and thereby facilitates reduction of the unit price of
broiler meat in Nigeria.
- This would also make the poultry
product (meat) more affordable and thereby increased intake of
animal protein in Nigeria.
- The drive towards organic
agriculture for health reasons is also trending.
- The ever increasing cost of maize,
a major energy source in poultry nutrition has become an issue of great
importance. This would therefore be curtailed when the quantity of maize required
is reduced.
- These forages can easily be
cultivated and also abound naturally all around us.
- Forages can serve both as fibre and
energy sources.
Login To Comment