Abstract:
An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of feeding goat droppings fortified with
probiotics and exo-enzyme on performance of broilers, blood bio-markers, carcass characteristics
and economics of production. Two hundred and ten (210) day-old broiler chicks were randomly
assigned to seven (7) treatment groups of 30 birds each. Each treatment was divided into three
replicate groups of 10 broiler chicks per replicate using a completely randomized design (CRD).
Seven experimental diets were formulated with goat droppings for starter broilers and finisher
broilers respectively. Treatments; T2, T4 and T6 contained 10%, 15% and 20% goat droppings
without supplementation of probiotics and exoenzyme while treatments T3, T5 and T7 contained
10%, 15% and 20% goat droppings supplemented with 37.50g of probiotics (Gro-up) and 26.25g
of exo-enzyme (natuzyme) per kilogram weight of feed respectively. Control diet, T1 contained
0% goat droppings. Parameters measured were body weight, feed intake, water intake, feed
conversion ratio, blood bio-markers, carcass characteristics and feed cost implication, etc.
Results of starter broilers experiment showed that daily weight gain, daily feed intake, feed
conversion ratio, daily protein intake and protein efficiency ratio were significantly (P<0.05)
enhanced by the treatments. No significant (P>0.05) difference existed in the water intake of the
birds. Birds in T3 recorded the highest daily body weight and daily weight gain of 742.02g and
21.20g; best feed conversion ratio of 2.52 and recorded the lowest mortality rate of 3.30% among
the treatment groups served the supplements. Similar results were observed among the finisher
broilers which showed significant differences in the body weight gain, daily weight gain and
feed conversion ratio. Also, the daily feed intake, daily protein intake, and protein efficiency
ratio were improved significantly (P<0.05). Similarly, no significant (P>0.05) differences
existed in the daily water intake and blood bio-markers or haematological indices of the birds.
Carcass characteristics revealed significant (P<0.05) differences in the liveweight, dressed
weight and dressing percent. Cost saving percentage was higher in the supplemented diet with
T3 recording the lowest cost per kilogram weight gain (N222.94) and (N198.34) than
T1(control) with (N270.60) and( N264.32) for broiler starter and finishers respectively. Result
of this experiment showed that broilers can be fed with 10% of goat droppings supplemented
with probiotics and exo-enzyme in their diets without any detrimental effects on growth
performance, haematology, carcass characteristics. Reduced cost of feed was achieved by the
use of the dietary treatment which increased the profit margin.
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