Apparent nutrient digestibility of broiler starter fed varying levels of processed taro cocoyam (<i>Colocasia esculenta</i>) meal based diet

Abstract

A ten-week feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the apparent nutrient digestibility of 120, one-day old broiler starter chicks fed varying levels of  Parboiled sundried taro cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta) meal (PSCM). Four treatments were formulated with diet one containing 100% maize as control, while in diet two, three and four parboiled sundried cocoyam meal (PSCM) replaced the percentage proportion of maize in diet one at 50, 75  and 100  inclusion levels respectively. Thirty (30) birds were randomly assigned to the four treatment diets in a complete randomized designed  (CRD) and each treatment group contained three replicates with ten (10) birds each. Ground fed feed and voided faecal samples collected after a 4-day feeding in a metabolic cage were analyzed for their respective proximate constituent. Apparent nutrient digestibility revealed that crude fibre was significantly (P<0.05) higher in diet 4 while crude ash was significantly (P<0.05) higher in control. Digestible ether extract and NFE were  significantly (P<0.05) higher among birds placed on 50% PSCM. It is therefore concluded that parboiled sundried taro cocoyam meal (PSCM) could replace 50% of maize in broiler starter diet without any deleterious effect. However, substituting maize with parboiled sundried taro cocoyam meal at 50% replacement level improved nutrient digestibility and is hereby recommended for poultry farmers.

Keywords: Broiler Starter, Taro Cocoyam, Nutrient digestibility, Parboiled-Sundried