Microbiological Quality Assessment and Physico-chemical Properties of Selected Poultry Feeds from Commercial Feed Millers in Ilorin, Nigeria

Abstract

Two commercial poultry diets namely chick mash and grower mash were obtained from five (5) major poultry feed millers in Ilorin metropolis, Nigeria. A total of seventy – five (75) samples were collected and these diets were examined for their microbiological and physico-chemical qualities. Total bacterial counts in the chick mash ranged between 1.40 and 6.60 x 105CFU g^-1 while values obtained for the grower mash were 2.80 and 7.70 x 105 CFU g^-1. Similarly, Total fungal counts ranged between 2.20 – 8.90 x 106 and 5.60 – 14.0 x 104 CFU g^-1 for the chick mash and grower mash respectively. These counts were irrespective of the feed producer. A total of twelve microorganisms comprising seven bacterial and five fungal species were isolated. The organisms were tentatively identified as Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, Klebsiella sp., Proteus sp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and Aspergillus niger, Rhizopus stolonifer, Aspergillus flavus, Coccidiolodes immitis and Geotrichum candidum. The pH and titratable acidity ranged between 5.0 – 6.8 and 10.80 – 20.00mg/100g respectively. Proximate analysis of the chick mash revealed the moisture content which ranged between 11.10 – 14.09%, crude protein 22.01 – 25.12%, total ash 8.70 – 12.50%, crude fat 3.20 – 5.05%, crude fibre 4.5 – 6.12% and total carbohydrate 50.49 – 57.21%. The range of values obtained for the grower mash were moisture content 7.29 – 9.31%, crude protein 12.47 – 16.85%, total ash 4.74 – 6.87%, crude fat 3.25 – 6.30%, crude fiber 5.65 – 9.45% and total carbohydrate 56.40 – 61.11%. The implications of these findings were discussed.