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Replacement value of maize offal in diets of weaned pigs supplemented with chicken offal meal
Young pigs have been reported in earlier studies to utilize up to 13.66% maize offal (MO) (a by-product of maize milling consisting mainly of the aleurone layer and some adulterants of germs and endosperm), as replacement for 25% maize in a 54.62% maize-based diet supplemented with chicken offal meal (COM) (ground dried poultry processing by-product comprising heads, viscera, feathers, beaks etc) but not 50% replacement of maize with 27.26% MO. Seventy two weanling pigs (8.84±0.2 kg body weight) were therefore randomly allotted to six dietary treatments of 0, 13.66, 16.34, 19.03, 21.70 and 24.39% MO representing 0, 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45% replacements of maize in 53.34% maize-based diet (containing 20% crude protein) enriched with COM to determine the replacement value of MO for maize in a complete randomized design. There were 3 pigs per pen and 4 replicate pens per treatment group. Weekly record of feed intakes and weight gains were taken for the 56-d trial period. Two pigs/replicate were randomly selected and bled at the first and last weeks of the trial to determine the serum total proteins, albumin, globulin, creatinine, urea, cholesterol and glucose. All statistical data were subjected to ANOVA and where statistical significance were observed, the means were compared using the Duncan’s multiple range test (SAS). The results indicated that the increasing levels of MO resulted in increased levels of crude fibre (5.83, 6.57, 6.83, 7.05, 7.27 and 7.38%) and decreased levels of predicted metabolizable energy (ME) contents of the diets (3531.01, 3459.51, 3447.60, 3416.08, 3410.05 and 3372.47 Kcal ME/kg), while the dry matter intake (0.85, 0.84, 0.80, 0.82, 0.87 and 0.85 kg) was not (P>0.05) affected for the 0, 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45% MO levels respectively. The diets and the constituent nutrients were efficiently utilized in terms of G:F (0.56, 0.54, 0.58, 0.54, 0.56 and 0.54), ME intake per gain (6361.82, 6277.67, 5991.78, 6382.28, 6067.30 and 6199.02 Kcal ME) to support comparable (P>0.05) gains (0.47, 0.49, 0.48, 0.47, 0.51 and 0.48 kg), though slight variations were observed with the ME intake. The performance of pigs fed up to 45% MO replacement of maize were comparable (P>0.05) to those fed the maize-based control diet.
Keywords: Maize offal, weaned pigs, non-conventional feedstuff