The Responses of Guinea Fowls (Numidia Meleagris) to Different Dietary Metabolisable Energy Levels.

Abstract

Metabolizable energy (ME) is a critical concept in poultry nutrition, representing the portion of dietary energy that is available to the bird for maintenance, growth, and reproduction after accounting for energy lost in faeces, urine, and gases produced during digestion. Understanding and managing metabolizable energy is essential for formulating balanced and efficient poultry diets. This study investigates the physiological responses of Guinea fowls (Numida meleagris) to different dietary metabolizable energy (ME) levels. The metabolizable energy content of avian diets plays a crucial role in influencing the growth, health, and overall performance of poultry species, including Guinea fowls. One hundred and fifty (150) unsex day-old indigeneous keets were assigned to three diets in a completely randomized design (CRD). The diets were formulated with a metabolizable energy level of T1 (2551 Kcal/kg), T2 (2768 Kcal/kg), and T3 (3000 Kcal/kg) in starter and grower diets. The diets were offered ad libitum throughout the study period. Data was collected on growth, bone traits (femur, and tibia), carcass traits, haematological parameters, lipid profile, and gut pH. There was no significant influence (P > 0.05) of dietary metabolizable energy levels on the growth performance parameters on days 30, 44, and 72 of the study. On day 58, there was a significant difference observed for the treatment diet on the growth performance parameters measured. It was observed that dietary metabolizable energy had a significant (P < 0.05) influence on liver and breast weight at d 35 of the study with T1 (2551 Kcal/kg) recording the highest mean liver and breast weight. Heart, gizzard, and thigh weight were not affected (P > 0.05) by the dietary metabolizable energy levels. Femur length was significantly influenced (P < 0.05) at d 35 of the experiment. However, tibial weight, femur weight, tibial length, tibial width, femur width, tibial BS, and femur BS were not affected by the dietary metabolizable energy levels (P > 0.05). Dietary metabolizable energy levels had a significant effect (P > 0.05) on the pH of the proventriculus and the caecum. However, gizzard pH tended to be influenced (P=0.080) by the treatment. Also, the pH of the crop, duodenum, ileum, and jejunum were not significantly affected by the dietary metabolizable energy levels (P > 0.05). The Haematological parameters and lipid profile of the birds were not significantly influenced by the dietary treatments. However, the general outcome suggests that T1 (2551 Kcal) and T2 (2768 Kcal) diets may be preferred by the Guinea fowl due to the effect of feeding Guinea fowls with high energy diet as observed in T3 (3000 Kcal/kg).