Abstract
This study determined the nutritive values of cattle rumen waste (CRW) meal used for replacement of maize in the diets of Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus. CRW (20.9% CP) was used to replace maize (10.1 CP) at 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% making diets (D1-D5). The diets were fed to the fish (5.59±0.37g) to apparent satiation twice daily in three replicates. Results showed that the bacterial count of fresh CRW sample was 3.2 x 105Cfu/g while the fungal count was 1.2 x 105sfu/g, but after sun drying at constant moisture of 8.0%, the bacterial and fungal counts reduced by 90% and 100% respectively. The weight gain, specific growth rate and feed intake declined with increasing levels of CRM. Fish fed D1 had the best feed conversion ratio (FCR) of (1.29) while the group fed D5 gave the poorest FCR of (1.66). The results also revealed that increasing dietary levels of CRW resulted in marginal increase in carcass ash and fibre. The bacterial and fungal counts of fresh fish samples ranged between 2.4 x104 – 3.4 x104 Cfu/g and 0.4 x 104 – 1.5 x 104 Sfu/g, respectively, but the organisms disappeared after drying the fish at mean constant moisture of 6.21%. In conclusion, CRW can replace up to 50% of maize in the diets of Nile tilapia. The use of the rumen meal would reduce costs of fish production and increase the profit margin. It will also boost fish production and rural economy and serve as an economic means of environmental management.
Highlights
This study determined the nutritive values of cattle rumen waste (CRW) meal used for replacement of maize in the diets of Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus
Nutrient Agar (NA) and Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA) were used as culture media for the determination of microbial loads according to the methods of (Pelczar et al, 1977)
This study shows that cattle rumen waste was better utilized by Nile tilapia than duck weed which dietary inclusion level for the production of the fish was 15%, (Ofojekwu et al, (2010)
Summary
Sample collection: Fresh and hygienic cattle rumen waste was collected from the University Teaching and Research Farm of the Federal University of Technology Akure. A part of the rumen was used to determine the microbial load of the sample, while the other part was sun-dried to constant moisture content of 8.02% and blended into powder form and sieved as the rumen waste meal. Feed formulation/preparation: Five diets were formulated such that they contained the cattle rumen waste meal (CRW) at 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%, respectively, in replacement for yellow maize. Nutrient Agar (NA) and Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA) were used as culture media for the determination of microbial loads according to the methods of (Pelczar et al, 1977). Data collection and analysis: Data collected were subjected to one-way analysis of variance as described by Steel and Torrie (1980) while means were separated using New Duncan multiple range test (Duncan, 1955)
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