GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS OF BROILERS FED GRADED LEVELS OF DRY DISTILLED CASSAVA WITH THE SOLUBLE

Abstract

The performance of broilers fed graded levels of Dry Distilled Cassava with Soluble (DDCS) as a partial substitute for wheat offal was investigated in a 28 day study. One hundred and forty four (144) 5-week old broiler chickens of similar average weight were randomly allocated to four dietary treatments. Each treatment had 2 replicate of 18 birds each. Four experimental diets with 0, 4, 8 and 12% inclusion of DDCS were formulated. Feed and water were fed ad libitum. Parameters measured include growth performance and carcass characteristics. Body weight and feed consumption were measured weekly and carcass characteristics were evaluated at the termination of experiment. Six birds from each treatment were randomly selected and slaughtered for carcass evaluation. The average daily weight gain (g/day) for broilers on 0% DDCS was significantly (P<0.05) higher than that of others. The carcass analysis investigated were not significant (P>0.05) for all experimental diets. It was concluded that DDCS could replace wheat offal in the diets of broilers up to 12% without any deleterious effect on carcass quality of the birds