Growth Performance, Blood Profile, Carcass, Organoleptic Attributes and Cost Benefit of Broilers Fed Dietary Shea Caterpillar (Cirina Butyrospermi) Meal.

Abstract

Two studies were carried out in 14 weeks to determine growth performance, haematological and biochemical attributes, carcass, organoleptic attributes, and cost benefit of broilers fed dietary shea caterpillar meal. In experiment one, 75 four-week-old Cobb 500 broiler chicks were randomly allocated to five dietary treatments with 3 replicates in a Complete Randomized Design. The five treatments were labelled as T1 (SC0 %), T2 (SC25 %), T3 (SC50 %), T4 (SC75 %), and T5 (SC100 %). The control diet was T1 (SC0%). Parameters measured include proximate and amino acid analyses, feed intake, water intake, average weekly body weight, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio, blood profile, carcass characteristics, organoleptic attributes and cost-benefit assessment. Data collected were subjected to a one-way analysis of variance with the support of GenStat 11th Edition (2008). The results showed that shea caterpillar meal has 60.42% crude protein and 15 amino acids. There was no significant difference (P>0.05) across all the means in terms of weekly feed intake and total weight gain. The inclusion of shea caterpillar meal in the diets of broilers had no adverse effect on the blood profile, organoleptic attributes and carcass characteristics. Cost-benefit analysis showed that as the inclusion of SCM increased up to 50%, the cost of feed decreased, and profit was high. In experiment two, 75-day-old Cobb 500 broiler chickens were randomly assigned to five treatments with 3 replicates in a Complete Randomized Design. The treatments were labelled just like experiment one. The parameters taken were similar to those of experiment one, except for biochemical and organoleptic attributes. In the starter phase, there was a significant difference (P<0.05) among all the treatment means for total feed intake, total water intake, total weight gain and feed conversion ratio. Cost of feed per bird reduced as the inclusion levels of SCM increased, and more profit was observed from birds fed with 25% SCM. In the finisher phase, total feed intake was not significant (P>0.05), but total weight gain and mean FCR were significant (P<0.05) among treatments. Carcass parameters showed a significant difference (P<0.05) among some treatments, the means, while haematological indices were not significant except for lymphocyte values. These results show that moderate inclusion of 50 % shea caterpillar in broilers' diets enhances growth performance and yields relatively high profit.