Performance Characteristics of Goat fed Trichoderma treated Feather Meal-Rice Husk Mixture

Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology (2009) 9 : 203-208 Performance Characteristics of Goat fed Trichoderma treated Feather Meal-Rice Husk Mixture M.A. Belewu*, N.O. Muhammed 1, F.T. Ajayi and D.T. Abdulgafar 1 Microbial Biotechnology and Dairy Science Laboratory Department of Animal Production, University of Ilorin, Nigeria (Received August 26, 2008) ABSTRACT Belewu, M.A., Muhammed, N.O., Ajayi, F.T. and Abdulgafar, D.T. 2009. Performance characteristics of goat fed Trichoderma treated feather meal-rice husk mixture. Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology, 9: 203-208. Twelve West African Dwarf goats (10.0±3.5 kg BW) were devided into three equal groups in a completely randomized design model and fed for a 56 day period either diet A (control, soybean based diet), diet B (10% feather meal+15% rice husk) or diet C (12.5% feather meal+12.5% rice husk). Total DM intake was highest in diet C, followed by B and A, respectively. Similar trends were recorded for crude protein intake and crude fibre intake. Diet C also recorded highest ether extract intake while diet B was lowest. Dry matter digestibility, crude protein digestibility, crude fibre digestibility and ether extract digestibility were also significantly higher in C compared to other diets. The results of the haematological parameters showed similarities among the experimental diets. In conclusion the result suggests that the diet of West African goats can be composed of 12.5% feather meal plus 12.5% rice husk with encouraging results in all the parameters studied. Keywords: Feed intake, Weight gain, WAD goats, Feather meal-rice husk mixture. INTRODUCTION Feather meals produced from clean, undecomposed and fresh feather of slaughtered poultry is a potential source of dietary protein. Different processing conditions such as time, temperature, pressure, and even moisture can have effects on the digestibility of protein from feather meal. The chemical composition of feather includes 82% crude protein, 0.6% crude fibre, 6% ether extracts and 3.02 kcal/g GE (Ewing, 1997). The very high crude protein content offers scope for its use as a protein supplement for ruminants. Various processing methods have traditionally been used for treatment of agricultural residues and by-products (Belewu et al., 2004). Earlier studies by Belewu and Banjo (1999). Belewu et al. (2007) have reported effectiveness of biological treatment * Corresponding author: Dr. M.A. Belewu, E-mail: milkyinka@yahoo.com; mabel@unilorin.edu.ng 1 Department of Biochemistry 203

Belewu et al. as a way to improve utilization of by-products. Biological treatment of feather requires addition of bulk substrate. Rice husk could be one of such potential substrate. Rice husk is made of hard materials including opaline silica and lignin. Belewu and Adenuga (1998) reported that rice husk contains 71.4% acid detergent fibre and 15.2% acid detergent lignin. The CP and crude fibre content of rice husk ranges between 12 to 13 and 10 to 14 percents, respectively. The effects of treatment of cassava wastes, rice husk, sawdust, sorghum stover using Aspergillus niger, Trichoderma harzanium were reported with encouraging results (Belewu and Banjo, 1999; Belewu and Adenuga, 2003; Belewu and Jimoh, 2005). Hence, the present study was undertaken to investigate the inclusion of Trichoderma treated feather-rice husk mixture meal in the diet on feed intake, apparent digestibility, weight gain and haematological parameters of West African Dwarf (WAD) goats MATERIALS AND METHODS Feathers of broiler chicken were obtained from Unity area in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria where poultry birds were slaughtered and processed. The feathers were properly washed in clean water to remove all dirts, and later sun-dried for 3 days. The feather was cut into smaller pieces and pelleted with the rice husk using starch as a binding agent so as to aid easy milling of the feather. The milled feather-rice husk mixture meal (40:60 and 50:50) was then autoclaved at 121 0 C to get rid of any possible microbes. The inoculum (Trichoderma harznium) was obtained from the stock available at the Department of Animal Production, University of Ilorin, Nigeria and maintained on potato dextrose agar (PDA) contained in Petri dishes. The whole content was incubated at 37 0 C till the fungus enveloped the medium. The autoclaved feather-rice husk meal was inoculated with 10 6-10 9 spores of the fungus (Trichoderma harzanium) and the inoculated substrate was then left in an incubation chamber for 7 days providing all necessary condition (oxygen, temperature, humidity) for optimal fermentation. At the end of the seventh day, the growth was terminated by oven drying the material at 70 0 C for 48 hours. The spent substrate was used in formulating diets for WAD goats at various inclusion levels of 10% feather meal+15% rice husk, and 12.5% feather meal+12.5% rice husk in replacement for soybean in diets B and C. Experimental animals and management The WAD goats of mixed sex (n=12) used for this study were purchased from Ipata market, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria and kept at the Pavilion of the Animal Production Department, University of Ilorin. They were treated against ecto and endo parasites using Ivomec, while L-oxytetracycline was used to prevent cold and pneumonia. The animals were then randomized against the three experimental diets in a completely randomized design model for a 56-day period. The animals were weighed at the start 204

Trichoderma treated feather meal-rice husk mixture for goat and end of the experimental period to calculate average weight gain. The animals were fed the experimental diets and watered ad libitum while the feed intake was recovered daily. Blood sample was collected into bottles containing EDTA from the experimental animals fortnightly. Additionally, the animals were placed in metabolic cages during the last week of the experiment for the determination of nutrient digestibility. The total faecal output of each animal during the digestibility period was collected daily in a collection bag, weighed accurately and mixed well while a representative sample was collected for proximate analysis The proximate composition of the diets and the faeces were determined using AOAC (1990) method. All data collected were subjected to a completely randomized design model (Steels and Torrie, 1980), while treatment means were separated using Duncan multiple range test (Duncan, 1955). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The chemical composition of the experimental diet shown in Table 1, revealed that diet A recorded the lowest crude fibre content and it was highest in diet C. The higher Table 1. Ingredients and proximate composition of experimental diets Parameters Diets A (Control) B C Ingredient composition of diets (%) Cassava waste 65.00 65.00 65.00 Soybean meal 25.00 - - Feather meal - 10.00 12,50 Rice husk - 15.00 12.50 Terminalia catappa leaves 8.00 8.00 8.00 Salt 1.00 1.00 1.00 Vitamin-mineral premix 1.00 1.00 1.00 Proximate composition of diets (%) Dry matter 84.50 91.50 91.00 Crude protein 23.15 7.48 8.84 Crude fibre 12.00 24.50 28.00 Ether extract 4.76 3.74 2.66 Ash 3.70 9.08 6.06 Nitrogen free extract 56.39 55.20 54.44 Vitamin-mineral premix: Supplied per 2.5 kg/ton of feed, 5000000 IU vitamin A; 1000000 IU vitamin D 3, 24.0 g vitamin E, 1.0 g vitamin K 3, 1.2 g vitamin B 1, 2.8 g vitamin B 2, 16.0 g nicotinic acid, 4.0 g calcium D- panthothenate, 5.0 g vitamin B 6, 16.0 g vitamin B 12, 0.4 g folic acid, 0.028 g biotin, 120 g choline chloride, 16.0 g zinc bacitracin 40.0 g manganese, 20.0 g iron, 18.0 g zinc, 0.8 g copper, 0.62 g iodine, 0.1 g cobalt and 0.04 g selenium. 205

Belewu et al. ash content of diets B and C could be due probably to the action of the fungus this trend is in agreement with the report of Belewu et al. (2004) and Jacqueline and Visser (1996). The crude protein content of the diet ranged between 7.5 and 23.0% with the highest CP recorded for diet A (control). The DM intake increased with increasing levels of feather-rice husk mixtures (diets B and C) compared with diet A (Table 2). Increase in DM intake of diets B and C could be due to the effect of the enzyme on the substrate during treatment of featherrice husk mixture, giving more aroma that enhanced the acceptability and increased intake of the treated feather-rice husk mixture based diets. This supports the result of higher DM intake reported by Belewu (2006). The increase in crude protein intake might be due to the addition of microbial protein during fermentation. The significant increase in crude fibre intake (diets B and C) might be due to the action of the fungus on the feather-rice husk mixture. The fungus helped in pre-digestion of fibre content either using it as their own growth nutrient, thereby facilitating greater digestibility of crude fiber in diets B and C. The crude fibre digestibility of diet C was superior to that of diets Table 2. Feed intake and apparent digestibility coefficient of the experimental animals Parameters Diets A (Control) B C SEM Dry matter Intake (g) 135.20 155.5 373.10 127.77 Digestibility (%) 91.61 92.18 96.23 20.73 Crude protein Intake(g) 31.04 a 11.63 b 32.98 c 0.40 Digestibility (%) 91.24 b 81.96 a 91.36 c 0.38 Ether extract Intake (g) 6.44 b 5.82 a 9.92 c 0.17 Digestibility (%) 91.73 a 91.65 b 95.97 c 0.26 Crude fibre Intake (g) 16.22 a 38.11 b 104.47 c 0.30 Digestibility% 71.95 b 73.82 a 90.27 c 0.35 a,b,c Means having different superscripts differ significantly (P<0.05). A and B due probably to the digestion of the feather by the fungus. The ether extract digestibility followed similar trend. The white blood cell, red blood cell, haemoglobin and PCV decreased slightly in diets B and C compared to diet A but with no significant difference (P>0.05). It is interesting to know that all the animals maintained the normal levels of the parameters studied (Table 3). 206

Trichoderma treated feather meal-rice husk mixture for goat Table 3. Influence of the experimental diets on the blood indices of the experimental animals Parameters Diets A (control) B C SEM Packed cell volume (%) 28.13 32.88 22.31 2.20 White blood cell (x10 9 /L) 6.59 6.65 6.78 0.26 Red blood cell (x10 12 /L) 5.37 4.44 4.51 2.43 Haemoglobin (g/dl) 9.92 7.02 7.05 5.16 Neutrophil (%) 32.25 33.51 37.00 5.10 Lymphocyte (%) 67.44 65.38 62.01 4.62 None of the parameters among the groups differed significantly (P>0.05) CONCLUSION Fungal (Trichoderma harzanium) treated feather meal-rice husk can effectively replace costly soybean cake in diet of goats without any apparent effect on overall feed intake and digestibility. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Special thanks to Mr. Ogunsola, F.O. for his assistance. REFERENCES AOAC. 1990. Official Methods of Analysis, 15th ed. Association of Analytical Chemists, Washington, DC. Atteh, J.O. 1994. Principles and Practice of Livestock Feed Manufacturing. Adlek Pubulisher. Sabo-oke, Ilorin, Nigeria. Belewu, M.A. 2006. Functional Approach to Dairy Science and Technology. Adlek Pubulisher. Sabooke, Ilorin, Nigeria. Belewu, M.A. and Adenuga, O.S. 2003. Effect of treating rice husk with Aspergillus niger on the feed intake and digestibility of WAD goat. Journal of Raw Material Research, 2: 19-25. Belewu, M.A. and Akinladenu, 1998. A note on the apparent digestibility of rice husk and hatchery byproduct meal based diet fed to WAD goat. Journal of Applied Animal Resaerch, 13: 197-200. Belewu, M.A., Mohammed, N.O. and Ikuomola, B.O. 2004. Comparative nutritional evaluation of fungus and alkali treated rice husk in rat. Moor Journal of Agricultural Research, 5: 129-134. Belewu, M.A., Ayinde, O.E, and Morakinyo, A.O. 2007. Biochemical changes of some waste agricultural residue after solid-state fermentation. Global Journal of Agricultural Science, 13: 161-164. Belewu, M.A. and Banjo, N.O. 1999. Biodelignification of rice husk and sorghum stover by edible mushroom (Pleurotus sajor caju). Tropical Journal of Animal Science, 1: 137-142. Belewu, M.A. and Jimoh, N.O. 2005. Blood, carcass and organ measurement as influenced by Aspergillus niger treated cassava waste in diet of WAD goats. Global Journal of Agricultural Science, 13: 161-164 Duncan, D.B. 1955. Multiple range tests and multiple F test. Biometrics, 1: 1-42. 207

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