Abstract
An experiment was conducted on 524 guinea keets to test the effect of four dietary protein levels on general performance. The four levels evaluated were 0.22, 0.23, 0.24 and 0.25g dietary protein/g feed. Data were collected on feed intake, weight gains and mortality. Partial cost-benefit analysis was also done. The results showed significant feed intake differences between treatments (P<0.05). Keets on 0.22 protein feed recorded the highest feed consumption followed by 0.23, 0.25 and lastly 0.24. Mean daily weight gain was highest among keets on the 0.24 protein feed and lowest among keets on the 0.22 protein feed; however, these differences were not statistically significant. The 0.25 DP feed also appeared to perform better than 0.23 DP feed in terms of daily weight gain. Mean cost of feed per kilogram live weight gained seemed to be lowest for the 0.24 protein diet followed by keets on 0.25, 0.23 and then 0.22 protein feed. Mortality was highest in keets on 0.22 protein diet and least in keets on 0.24 protein diet. The 0.24 protein diet may therefore be the most economical diet to feed to growing indigenous keets between 0 and 8 weeks.
Highlights
Guinea fowl rearing is a pervasive culture in much of northern Ghana (Dei and Karbo, 2004)
Feed intake was highest in keets on 0.22 protein feed (52 MJME/kg DP) followed by those on 0.23 DP (49 MJME/kg DP) and 0.25 DP (44 MJME/kg DP) and lastly on 0.24 DP (47MJME/kg DP) feed (P
Keets which were hatched with the second incubator consumed more feed than those obtained with the third incubator and lastly, the first incubator (P
Summary
Guinea fowl rearing is a pervasive culture in much of northern Ghana (Dei and Karbo, 2004). As the importance of the guinea fowl has been acknowledged and scientists are developing appropriate technologies to increase productivity, it is important to determine the most efficient feed package that will give the best performance at the cheapest cost. This trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of four levels of dietary protein on the performance of the guinea fowl and to determine the dietary protein level that gives the best growth rate at the cheapest cost
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