Abstract
This study investigated the metabolizable energy (ME) intake, net energy of production (NEp), heat production (HP), efficiencies of ME use for energy, lipid and protein retention as well as the performance of broiler chickens fed diets based on cassava chips or pellets with or without supplementation with an enzyme product containing xylanase, amylase, protease and phytase. The two products, cassava chips and pellets, were analysed for nutrient composition prior to feed formulation. The cassava chips and pellets contained 2.2% and 2.1% crude protein; 1.2% and 1.5% crude fat; and 75.1% and 67.8% starch, respectively. Lysine and methionine were 0.077%, 0.075%, and 0.017%, 0.020% protein material, respectively, while calculated ME was 12.6 and 11.7 MJ/kg, respectively. Feed intake to day 21 was lower (p<0.01) on the diet containing cassava chips compared to diets with cassava pellets. Enzyme supplementation increased (p<0.01) feed intake on all diets. Live weight at day 21 was significantly (p<0.01) reduced on the diet based on cassava chips compared to pellets, but an improvement (p<0.01) was noticed with the enzyme supplementation. Metabolizable energy intake was reduced (p<0.01) by both cassava chips and pellets, but was increased (p<0.01) on all diets by enzyme supplementation. The NEp was higher (p<0.01) in the maize-based diets than the diets containing cassava. Enzyme supplementation improved (p<0.01) NEp in all the diets. Heat production was highest (p<0.01) on diets containing cassava pellets than on cassava chips. It is possible to use cassava pellets in diets for broiler chickens at a level close to 50% of the diet to reduce cost of production, and the nutritive value of such diets can be improved through supplementation of enzyme products containing carbohydrases, protease, and phytase.
Highlights
The world production of cassava was 262.6 million tonnes in 2012, with a steady increase in production over previous years (FAO, 2012)
The crude fat, amylose, total insoluble and soluble non-starch polysaccharides (NSPs) contents were higher in cassava pellets than in the chips (1.5%, 17.9%, 5.4%, and 0.83% vs 1.2%, 17.3%, 3.9%, and 0.78%, respectively)
The pellets performed better than chips in terms of FI, body weights (BW) and feed conversion ratio (FCR). This is in agreement with Burn et al (1990), who reported that up to 66.7% of maize in broiler diets can be replaced by cassava meal without adversely affecting growth performance of broilers
Summary
The world production of cassava was 262.6 million tonnes in 2012, with a steady increase in production over previous years (FAO, 2012). Cassava chips and pellets are the key cassava products used in animal feeding, which can replace some or all of the cereal grain in diets for poultry (Iji et al, 2011) These cassava products are exported to Europe and other parts of the world. Other researchers have reported variable responses of diets containing cassava products such as chips and pellets in broiler diets (Obikaonu and Udedibie, 2006). These inconsistencies may be due to differences in cultivars or product processing prior to feeding or poor digestion of the main carbohydrates in cassava
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