Bacteriological Investigation of Poultry Feeds Sold Within Jos Metropolis

Abstract

Animal feeds can potentially become contaminated with food borne bacteria either during harvesting, processing at the feed mill or during storage. Animal feeds are also potential reservoirs for cross contamination from environmental sources while being fed to animals. This study was therefore carried out to analyse the bacterial load of poultry feeds sold within Jos metropolis and to deduce the bacteriological quality of feeds sold at the various sales outlets. Four different commercial poultry feeds namely, broiler finisher, broiler starter, growers mash and layers mash obtained from their trade outlets in Jos, Bukuru and K-Vom, Nigeria were examined for their microbiological qualities using standard microbiological and analytical methods. The bacterial count was highest in broiler starter with 3.50 x 10⁷ cfu/g, while the least count of 5.40 x 10³ cfu/g was recorded in layers mash. A total of six bacteria were isolated which include; Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, Listeria monocytogens and Klebsiella spp. The presence of some pathogenic microorganisms in poultry feeds lucidly reveals the level of contamination. Therefore, the commercial poultry feeds should be periodically examined for biosafety, so as to reduce or probably prevent the risk of cross contamination of poultry and poultry products.

Keywords: Poultry feeds, bacteria, contamination