Performance of Weaner Pigs Placed on Composite Cassava Meal Based Diets
Abstract
A total of twenty four (24) crossbred (Landrace ×Large white) weaned pigs of average weight 12.26 + 0.54kg
were randomly assigned to four (4) treatment diets in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD), with six pigs per
treatment and each replicated three times with two animals per replicate. Four diets were formulated with Diet 1
(control) being maize-based, while in diet 2-4 composite cassava meal replaced 50% of maize; diet 2 containing
27% cassava root meal (CRM) and 3% cassava foliage meal (CFM)), diet 3 (24% cassava root meal and 6%
cassava foliage meal), and diet 4 (21% cassava root meal and 9% cassava foliage meal). The diets and the cassava
products (CRM and CFM) were chemically analyzed. Data were collected on weight gain, feed intake, feed
conversion ratio, carcass yield, and cost benefit calculated. Crude fibre and crude protein were higher in diets 3
and 4, and ether extract content higher in CFM than in CRM. Pigs fed the control diets (1) consumed more
feed/day (1.3kg) than those on diets 2, 3 and 4 (1.28, 1.28 and 1.23kg), dressing percentage were similar (p>0.05)
in the pigs fed diets 1 and 4, (59.67 and 59.59%) respectively. Abdominal fat was higher (p<0.05) in pigs fed diet 1
and 2 than those on diet 3 and diet4. Back fat was higher (p<0.05) in the pigs fed diet 1 than those on diets 2-4.
Cost/kg feed and cost/kg weight gain were (p<0.05) lower with higher CFM in diets. Diet 4 also recorded higher
gross margin. Feeding pigs with cassava products (CRM and CFM) at ratio 2.33 to 1 is therefore recommended as
an economical option that can replace 50% maize in weaned pig's diets.
NAJ supports free online communication and exchange of knowledge as the most effective way of ensuring that the fruits of research and development practice are made widely available. It is therefore committed to open access, which, for authors, enables the widest possible dissemination of their findings and, for readers, increases their ability to discover pertinent information. The Journal adopts and uses the CC: BY license and is open access. This license lets others distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the Journal’s published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. Copyright for articles published in this Journal is retained by the Journal.
