PERFORMANCE OF BROILER CHICKENS FED GRADED LEVEL OF SUN-DRIED CASSAVA ROOT MEAL (SDCRM) BASED DIETS AT STARTER PHASE

Abstract

A four weeks experiment was conducted to determine the performance of broiler chickens fed graded level of sun-dried cassava root meal (SDCRM) to replace maize. Five diets were formulated in which maize was replaced with SDCRM at 0, 20, 30, 40 and 50% levels designated as diet 1,2,3,4 and 5, respectively on a deep litter system. Two hundred and forty chicks were weighed after brooding for seven days and randomly allotted to the five treatments with three replicated in a completely randomized design. All routine management practices were observed and the experiment lasted for four weeks. Parameters measured were: daily feed intake, daily weight gain, feed conversion ratio, feed efficiency and mortality. Data were analyzed using analysis of variances. The performance of the chick in starter phase shows that DFI, DWG, FCR and FE were all similar except for daily weight gain. Significant reductions were observed in the daily weight gain of chicks fed SDCRM.