The effects of poultry dropping and cow dung on growth and feed utilization of Heterobranchus longifilis x Clarias gariepiuns hybrid reared in concrete ponds

Abstract

The effect of poultry and cow manures on growth and feed utilization of Heterobranchus longifilis (male) x Clarias gariepinus (female) hybrid fingerlings were monitored for fourteen weeks. The study was conducted at the fish farm of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike. The one hundred and twenty fingerlings were subjected to three treatments. Two replicated ponds were fertilized with poultry droppings and cow dug while the third had no fertilizer (control). While there was no significant difference (p>0.05) in the Mean Total length (MTL) for the three treatments, the Mean Body weight (MBW), Specific Growth Rate, (SGR) Feed Conversion Efficiency (FCE) and Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) showed significant differences (p<0.05) between the fertilized and unfertilized ponds. Though poultry droppings had higher values of the above growth indices than cow dung they were not significantly different. These results indicate that organic manures are essential for plankton proliferations, which are nutritive to fish especially during the early stages of development

Keywords: Effect, manures, growth, feed utilization, Heteroclarias, hybrid, fingerlings

> Animal Production Research Advances Vol. 2 (4) 2006: pp. 253-257