Effects of dietary levels of chemically treated Terminalia catappa fruit waste with or without enzyme supplementation for pullet chicks

Abstract

An experiment to investigate the replacement value of Terminalia catappa fruit waste (TCFW) for maize in the diet of pullet chicks was carried out. A gross (144) silver brown highline breed pullet chicks at day old were randomly allocated to six dietary treatments in a 3 x 2 factorial design feeding trial, to study the replacement effects on performance, nutrient retention and some body weights of chicks. TCFW was subjected to povidone to detoxify the phytotoxins and supplemented with or without Xylanase to degrade the high fibre and included in diets at 0, 30.6 and 63.52% replacing 0, 50 or 100% respectively of maize while Nutrase xyla (NX) was supplemented at 0 or 100ppm. There were statistically significant differences in performance parameters- feed intake, feed efficiency and high mortality was recorded on diets with high inclusion level of the waste (p<0.05). Increase in level of NX increased feed intake and feed efficiency (p < 0.05). Significant difference was recorded on nutrients retention (p<0.05). Increasing the level of the enzyme increased the retention of nutrients (p < 0.05). There was significant interaction between the test feedstuff and enzyme supplementation (p < 0.05). There were statistical significant differences in the absolute and relative organ weights (p < 0.05). Increasing the level of the test feedstuff in diets or the level of the enzyme did not influence the absolute and relative organ weight parameters (p > 0.05). It was concluded that TCFW treated with povidone and supplemented with NX could replace 50% of maize in diet for poultry and that further research be conducted on treatment methods to make higher inclusion level of the waste possible.

JARD Vol. 4 (2) 2005: pp. 176-186