Abstract
The experiment to investigate the proximate, vitamin and mineral composition of earthworm (Hyperiodriluseuryaulos) cultured in different animal dung media was conducted using a completely randomized design for ten weeks. Rabbit, Poultry, Pig and Goat dungs were incorporated into garden soil after sterilizing in other to ensure that there was no earthworm or any insect alive in the substrate. Live earthworms were introduced into these different animal dungs which were designated as T1,T2, T3 and T4 for rabbit, poultry, pig and goat dungs respectively. Diet formulated with maize, palm kernel cake and wheat offal was evenly spread on the diet and then mixed with the substrate. At the end of the tenth week, the earthworms were harvested by hand picking. They were soaked in warm water to kill them and rinsed with cold water to remove sand. The dried and milled earthworms were analyzed for chemical composition. The result of the study revealed significant (p<0.05) differences in percentage dry matter, ash, ether extract, crude protein, crude fiber, and nitrogen free extract and Metabolizable energy. The earthworm cultured in goat dung (T4) had the highest (p<0.05) crude protein percent of 38.49% while those from the rabbit dung (T1) recorded 28.72%CP. The Sodium content of the earthworms cultured in rabbit droppings T1was significantly (p<0.05) the highest recording 126.52mg, while others were 86.63, 86.40 and 93.73mg for poultry, pig and goat dungs respectively.1.74Vitamin A content of earthworms cultured in the different animal dung media were 1.74mg/100g DM, 2.10, 1.36 and 1.30mg/100g DM for the rabbit, poultry, pig and goat dungs respectively. The proximate composition of the earthworms cultured in the different animal dung media indicate that the earthworms except those cultured in the poultry droppings have high crude protein content and can be used to substitute fish meal in livestock diets. Moreover, the high content of ash in all the treatments suggests that they may be rich in minerals especially sodium.
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