Effects of Fish By-product Meal Inclusion in Broiler Feeds on Growth Performance

Abstract

Background: The presence of inadequate and inconsistent feeds to the chicken resulted in lower performance of chick production in Ethiopia. Broilers are meat type chickens with fast income generation and depend on high quality feed. Feed costs alone currently account for over 65-70% of poultry production in third world countries, there has been recent interest in determining the feeding value of different locally available alternative feeding resources. As fish is generally appreciated as one of the healthiest and cheapest source of protein and it is available in Gambella water bodies, this research is intended to investigate the effects of fish by-product inclusion in broiler feeds on growth performance. Two hundred and forty (240) day old broiler chicks (Cobb 500) were reared and assigned to four treatments for 42 days. Treatment one was the control without fish by-product meal, treatment 2 contained 2% fish by-product meal, treatment 3 contained 3% fish by-product meal and treatment 4 contained 5% fish by-product meal. Each treatment was replicated 3 times with 20 birds per replicate in a completely randomized design. Parameters measured for the experiment were the initial body weight, final weight, daily feed intake while weight gain and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were calculated. Data were analyzed using General linear model procedure of statistical analysis software (SAS) version 9.2. Results: This study indicated that the average daily feed intake of broiler significantly increased (P<0.05) in 3 and 5% fish by-product meal level to the diets during 11-20 days of age. At the age of 32 – 42 days the average body weight and daily feed intake at the age of 21-32 days were significantly (P<0.05) increased in 3 and 5% fish by-product meal level compared to control and 2% fishmeal diet. Conclusion: This study revealed that inclusion of fish by-product meal in the diet improved the performance of broiler. To utilize and exploit the potential of fish by-product meal as broiler feed in Gambella region, farmers should get training on preparation and utilization of fish by product.