GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF INDIGENOUS GUINEA FOWLS FED VARIED LEVELS OF BOILED MANGO KERNEL MEAL

Abstract

A study was conducted to determine effects of varied levels of boiled mango kernel meal (BMKM) as a replacement for maize on growth performance of local guinea fowls. The BMKM was obtained by cutting the seed open with knife and the mango kernel chopped into pieces, boiled at 100 C for 30 minutes and sun-dried for 72 hours. One hundred and twenty, 28-day old local guinea keets of similar live weights (118g ± 2g/bird) were randomly allotted to 4 dietary treatments containing 3 replicates of 10 birds each. The BMKM replaced maize at inclusion levels of 0% (control), 10%, 15% and 20%, respectively. Clean water was provided ad-libitum. Data were collected on mean feed intake, final live weight, daily weight gain, feed conversion efficiency (FCE), feed cost per kg gain and analyzed using ANOVA by GENSTATS (3rd Edition). There were no significant differences (P>0.05) in mean feed intake, final live-weight, daily weight gain, FCE, feed cost per kg and feed cost per gain between birds fed the control diets and diets containing BMKM. There was no significant differences (P>0.05) in mortality of birds on the various treatments. It was concluded that boiled mango kernel meal could replace maize up to 20% in the diet of local guinea fowls without any adverse effects on growth.