Cassava Meal in Cockerel diets

Twenty nine cockerels were used to investigate the effect of cassava peel meal on the haematology. The birds were assigned to 3 treatments namely D1, D2 and D3. D1 had 9 birds and served as control. D2 and D3 which contained 20% and 30% CPM respectively had 10 birds each.

Statistical analysis of the haematological parameters showed significant differences (P<0.5) between the control diet (D1) and the cassava peel based diets (D2 and D3) in the levels of PCV and HB. Mean total WBC values were 6235.56+-19 for D1, 7888.00+-73.56 for D2 and 9906.80+-144.17 for D3 respectively.

Among the differential counts, significant differences were observed between the 3 treatments in the levels of neutrophils, between D1 and D3 in lymphocytes and between D1and D2 and D1 and D3 in eosinophils.

The result of this study finally suggested that the cassava peel based diets(D2 and D3) with higher haematological values in PCV and HB which ultimately reflected better physiological status of the birds seemed to be superior to the control diet(D1) with no cassava peel meal and that cassava peels could be safely used as an alternative energy source for cockerel production.

There may be more competition between man and livestock, especially the monogastrics for the conventional feed stuff and efficient animals must be produced which can compete successfully with humans by their ability to feed from alternative feed sources (Fasley, 1987). We must look for alternative feed sources by using unconventional feed stuff which can supplement the conventional feeds being competed for by humans.

Njike (1980), noted that one of the major problems facing animal industry in Nigeria is the shortage of feeds. Research on alternative feeding stuffs that are locally available has been in progress for the past two decades. The successive discovery of amino-acids and their chemical synthesis and vitamins has led to simplification of composition of feeds, knowledge of nutrient requirements and of the composition of local raw materials will enable the preparation of low cost feeds (Okosun, 1987).

Since the adoption of alternative feeds for livestock would largely depend on the steady-all-year-round availability of such feeds, cassava peels would likely meet such a requirement since cassava peels can now be found in large quantities throughout the country due to the proliferation of the milling industries and garri processing factories. Since the production of livestock is largely dependent on good nutritional budgets with least cost, the use of cassava peels in diets of livestock will curtail the cost of livestock production and consequently, animal protein cost for the average Nigerian.

A lot of literature has shown that cassava peels can replace maize in poultry rations without any marked adverse effects on the performance of birds, but not much is known about the cassava peels locally. It is therefore necessary to explore ways in which cassava peel meal can be highly utilized in the feed of poultry locally in order to minimize the rate of wastage and spoilage in the factories. Most of the reports in the literature on the investigations of cassava peel meal in poultry rations did not cover the possible effects on the hematology of the birds. The objective of this study was therefore to find the effect of cassava peel meal on the haematology of cockerels. 

This study was conducted at the poultry unit of the teaching and research farm of the Department of Animal Production, University of Agriculture, Makurdi.

Cassava peels of mixed varieties were collected from the garri processing centre located at North bank, Makurdi. The cassava peels were sun-dried on clean cement floor immediately after collection for seven days after which the dried samples were ground and packed in polythene bags and stored at room temperature.

Thirty(30) five(5) weeks old Harco Breed of cockerels were used for the study and three(3) experimental diets were formulated with diet 1(D1) serving as a control containing no cassava peel meal. Diet2 (D2) and Diet3 (D3)  contained 20% and 30% cassava peel meals respectively. All the diets however contained maize and other ingredients in varying proportions except bone meal, vitamin premix and salt which remained the same in all the diets. All rations were isonitrogenous  and isocaloric.

Ten (10) cockerels were assigned to each of the pens labeled D1, D2 and D3 respectively. One of the birds in D1 got lost thereby leaving D1 with only nine (9) birds which served as the control unit. On the whole, a total of twenty-nine (29) birds of five (5) weeks old were used in this study. The birds received the necessary vaccinations before their arrival. Seven (7) days equilibration period were allowed the birds. The birds were fed adlibitum and water supplied liberally. They were weighed weekly while the left-over feeds were weighed daily. The experiment lasted for five (5) weeks.

At the end of the experiment, the birds were stunned and then bled by cutting the main jugular vein using sharp blades. Blood was collected in twenty-nine (29) clean dry ten (10) mls text tubes (one text tube per bird) with each text tube containing a pinch of anticoagulant (EDTA). The whole blood was taken to the laboratory in Makurdi where it was subjected to conventional haematological analyses. The result of the blood analyses showed the levels of the following in the blood:-

Packed Cell Volume (PCV), Haemoglobin (HB), White Blood Cell count (WBC) and the Differential Counts which is made up of:- Neutrophils, Lymphocites, Monocites, Eosinophils and Basophils.

The means, standard error of means of all haematological parameters were calculated for individual diets using Analyses of Variance (ANOVA) test in a Completely Randomized Design done in accordance with procedures outlined by Steel and Torrie (1980).

 

Table 3: Effect of Cassava Peel Meal on the Haematology of Cockerels




*Values in the same row bearing different super scripts differ significantly.

The result of this study showed significant difference (P‹0.05)of the effect of cassava peel meal on PCV between D1(control) and D2(20%CPM) and also between D1 and D3(30%CPM). There was also significant difference on HB between D1(control) and D2(20%CPM) and between D1 and D3(30%CPM). The observed increase of PCV in D2 and D3 respectively might reflect a possible increase in cassava peel meal utilization since it has been reported

by Swenson (1993) that constant utilization of available oxygen in the tissue results in increase in RBC and HB. Haemoglobin, according to Swenson (1993) gives the red blood cells their ability to carry oxygen and aid the carbon dioxide transport and other metabolites. It appears that 20% and 30% cassava peel meal based diets which had higher values of HB than the control diet were able to fasten the ability of blood to transport nutrients which resulted in improved performance of the birds. According to Onyimonyi (2002), any factors that will reduce the ability of blood to transport nutrients may lead to reduced performance and vice versa. It seems therefore that dietary inclusion of 20% and 30% CPM in the feed of cockerels are the levels required to maintain homeostasis as indicated by their high PCV and HB values in the blood.

There were significant differences between the three diets with respect to total WBC counts. Also among the differential WBC counts, significant differences were observed between the three diets in the percentage of neutrophils, between diet 1 and 3 in lymphocytes and between diet 1 and 2 and diet 1 and 3 in eosinophils. No significant difference was noticed in monocytes between the three diets.

Basophils were completely absent in the three treatments.

It has been reported(Heat and Olusanya,1985) that the number of eosinophils in circulation increases in parasitic diseases and in allergic reactions showing that D1(control) with higher level of eosinophils may have had some infestation and experienced some allergy. Lymphocytes, according to Heat and Olusanya,(1985) are phagocitic in function and also play a role of processing foreign materials(antigens) for antibody production. Higher value of lymphocytes observed in D1 still points to the fact that the birds in that treatment may have had some antigenic exposure.

There was no significant difference (P›0.05) on monocytes between the three dietary treatment . No significant differences were also observed between D1 and D2 and between D2 and D3 in the level of lymphocytes.  But significant differences occurred between the three dietary treatments in the level of neutrophils. Neutrophils function primarily as phagocytes at the sites of inflammation and infection(Heat and Olusanya,1985).The values of neutrophils observed in the three treatments were far above the acceptable levels of 20 to 40% as stated by Heat and Olusanya,(1985)for fowls. This definitely pointed to the fact that the three treatments may have suffered some form of infection which might be subclinical since no symptoms were observed among the treatments.

The higher haematological values recorded in the cassava peel meal based diets with respect to PCV and HB levels could reflect a better physiological status of the birds in the treatments. But an elevated white blood cells(Jain, 1986) may not be completely related to pathological conditions but to physiological conditions such as exercise and exposure to sunlight, so the high values of differential counts observed in the control diet which had no cassava peel meal at all may not after all be due to infections or parasitic infestation.

Since cockerels fed cassava peel meals in diets 2 and 3 had higher haematological values regarding PCV and HB levels which ultimately reflected a better physiological condition of the birds in the two treatments and since these 20% and 30% cassava peal meal based birds had lower values of differential counts which also showed that the birds in these treatments suffered no or less infections than the control, therefore the 20% and 30% cassava peal meal based diets seemed superior to the control which had no cassava meal.

Fasley, J.E. (1978) Genetics of livestock improvement. Prentice Hall, Eagle Wood Cliffs New York.

Heath, E. and S. Olusanya (1985) Anatomy and Physiology of tropical livestock. Longman, London and Nweyork.

Jain, N.C. (1986) Schalm's Veterinary Haematology, 4^th ed. Lea and Febiger. Philadelphia, USA.

Njike, M.C. (1980) Alternative energy and protein sources for poultry feeds in Nigeria, N.V.R.I. Vom,  Nigeria.

Okosun, S.E. (1987) Studies on caloric and protein requirements of cockerels. Ph.D. thesis, University of  Ibadan.

Onyimonyi, A.E. (2002) Nutritional evaluation of cassava peel and bambara waste in pig diets. Ph.D.  thesis, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Steel, R.G.D. and Torrie, J.H. (1980). Principles and procedures of statistics 2^nd ed. McGraw Hill books Coy. New York

Swenson, M.J. (1993) Physiological properties, cellular and chemical constituents of blood. In: Duke's physiology of domestic animals. M.J. Swenson and R.O.Williams (eds) 11^th edu. Cornell  University Press, New York.