EFFECT OF FERMENTATION TIME ON THE PERFORMANCE OF BROILER CHICKENS FED DIETS CONTAINING FERMENTED POULTRY DROPPINGS UNDER SINGLE PHASE FEEDING

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of fermentation time on the performance of broiler chickens fed diets containing varying levels of fermented poultry droppings under single phase feeding. A total of 150 broiler chickens were used in this experiment. The birds were randomly allotted to five dietary treatments of three replicates with ten birds per replicate, in a completely randomized design. The experimental diets were designated as T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5; T1 served as the control, while T2, T3, T4, and T5 were treatment groups wih poultry droppings fermented for 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours respectively. Feed and water were supplied ad libitum throughout the period of the experiment which lasted for eight weeks. Data were collected on initial body weight, feed intake, final body weight, apparent nutrient digestibility, carcass characteristics, organoleptic properties and economy of feed conversion. Results showed that there was a significant difference (P<0.05) in the feed intake amongst the treatments with T3 having the highest feed intake (3943.97g), however, the lowest feed intake was recorded in T1 with 3111.63g. There was a significant difference (P<0.05) in final body weight with T5 recording the highest (1697.10g), while the lowest was recorded in T1 (1564.70g). There were no significant differences (P>0.05) among the parameters measured in apparent nutrient digestibility; rather a significant difference (P<0.05) was recorded for ether extract digestibility with T5 having the highest percentage (93.91%) while the lowest value was recorded in T1 with 89.16%. Significant differences (P<0.05) were observed in live weight, slaughtered weight, de-feathered weight, dressing weight and dressing percentage, nevertheless, the results of the carcass characteristics indicated that the fermented poultry droppings diets had no significant effect (P>0.05) on some cut up parts like back weight, breast, thigh, drumstick and wing. The results of the internal organs revealed no significant differences (P>0.05) among all the parameters measured. Similarly, the results of the organoleptic properties indicated no significant difference (P>0.05) in most of the parameters, However, significant differences (P<0.05) were observed in juiciness, aroma and overall acceptability. The economy of feed conversion revealed that broiler birds fed the control diet had the highest feed cost per kilogram, (₦290.21) with the corresponding highest feed cost per weight gain (₦578.22). Similarly, the lowest feed cost per weight gain was recorded in T5 with ₦526.37 respectively. From this study, it was concluded that different time fermented poultry droppings could be used up to 5% inclusion as a substitution for conventional protein feeding stuff in broiler chickens without any adverse effect on growth performance irrespective of the fermentation period adopted