Performance and Haematological Indices of Broiler Chicken Fed Graded Level of Tiger Nuts

(Cyperus esculentus) Chaff

Fatokun, B.O., Kehinde, A.S.,

Department of Animal Health and Production Technology, Federal College of Wildlife Management
Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria P.M.B 268,New Bussa,Niger State.

s Corresponding author: niyifatokundr@yahoo.com (+234)8062088177)

Target Audience; Farmers and Academia

Abstract
A fifty six days feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the growth performance and haematological indices of one
hundred and fifty broiler chickens fed graded level of processed tigernut chaff (TSM) as a replacement for Palm
Kernel Cake (PKC) which is the fibre source in the experimental diets. The control diet designated as T 1 was PKC
based, while the other four diets contained 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% level of TSM in replacement for PKC and
were designated as T2, T3, and T4and T5 respectively. At the end of the feeding trial, it was discovered that significant
differences exists (P<0.05) across the treatments in all the measured haematological parameters with birds on
dietary treatment 5 having the lowest value of PCV (26.28%), Hb (7.02g/dl), RBC (1.68X 106), MCV (256.34µM3),
MCHC (16.71) and MCH (89.86pg) respectively but it was discovered that birds fed diets T5 had the highest values
of WBC count (1.68mlx106) while those fed on diets T2 had the lowest numerical value of 2.18mlx106 this implies
that increasing the level of TSM in the diets results in the introduction of antigen to the body of the birds resulting in
increased production of antibodies to combat their effect. The growth performance evaluated revealed that the
weight gain of the birds decreases as the inclusion level of TSM increases with birds fed diet T 1 having the highest
weight gain (2215.00g) and birds fed diet T5 having the lowest weight gain (1370.00g) while the reverse is the
values of the Feed Conversion Ratio which increase across the treatments

Key words: Tiger-nuts; Hematological; Performance; Graded Chaff.

Description of the Problems

Animal production in developing countries such as Nigeria is faced with various challenges which has led to the
decline of the industry because poultry is highly dependent on grains and other feed ingredients normally utilized by
man, and therefore competes directly with man for feed (Olasunkanmi, 2008). Feed being the most expensive items
in poultry production is responsible for between 60-80% of total cost of production (Abeke et al. 2013) and high
cost of feed ingredients is one of the major factors responsible for this decline which has caused instability in the
livestock business in the past few years as many livestock farms are almost paralyzed due to low or no profit margin
and to overcome these challenges, the option of sourcing for cheap alternatives with less competition between man
and livestock appears attractive. Tiger nut (Cyperus esculentus) is one of the underutilized crops of the family
Cyperaceae, which produces rhizomes from the base and tubers that are somewhat spherical. According to Sanchez-
Zapata et al., (2012), tiger nut is an edible perennial grass-like plant native to the “old world” often cultivated for its
nutritive edible nuts and has high content of soluble glucose of 21 % (Bamishaiye et al., 2010). It has not been
extensively used in monogastric feeds due to its inherent high fibre and anti-nutrients such as Alkaloids, Tannin,
Phytate, Oxalate, Saponin and Cyanogenic glycosides (Oladele et al., 2009). These anti-nutritional factors when
present in feeds exerts effects that are contrary to optimum nutrient utilization (Fatokun et al., 2009). After the
extraction of the milky liquid from the seeds, the chaff are always discarded, thus this work is directed at
determining the proximate composition of tiger nuts and evaluating the growth performance and haematological
indices of broiler chickens fed graded level of tiger nut chaff as a replacement for palm kernel cake (PKC) which is
a fibre source.
Materials and Methods
The study was carried out at the Poultry Unit of the Teaching and Research Farm of the Federal
College of Wildlife Management, New bussa, Niger State, Nigeria which is located between longitude 4 0 310E and
40 330E and latitude 7.30N and 10.000N ( )
Collection and processing of Tiger nut seeds
The seeds which were sourced for at a market in New-bussa, Niger state in Nigeria were soaked in water at room
temperature for twelve hours in order to reduce the level of the anti-nutritional factors such as Tannin, Oxalates,
Alkaloids, Saponin and Cyanides that may be present in it. The nuts were then milled and sieved with a fine mesh
sized sieve to extract the milky component of the nut. The residue from the milled seeds (Tiger nut seed meal, TSM)
were then air-dried until the weight remains constant (indicating that no more moisture is present in the residue)
were then added at 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% graded level to broilers feed in replacement of Palm Kernel Cake
(PKC) which is the fibre source in the experimental diets and were designated T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 respectively as
shown in tables 1 and 2
Table 1 :Percentage Composition of The Experimental Diets at Starter Phase

INGREDIENTS T1 T2 T3 T4 T5
(0% TSM) (25% TSM) (50% TSM) (75% TSM) (100% TSM)

Maize 50.00Kg 50.00Kg 50.00Kg 50.00Kg 50.00Kg

Soybean Cake 31.55Kg 31.55Kg 31.55Kg 31.55Kg 31.55Kg
P. K. C 10.00Kg 7.50Kg 5.00Kg 2.50Kg 0.00Kg
Fish meal 4.00Kg 4.00Kg 4.00Kg 4.00Kg 4.00Kg
Palm oil 0.60Kg 0.60Kg 0.60Kg 0.60Kg 0.60Kg
Bone meal 3.00Kg 3.00Kg 3.00Kg 3.00Kg 3.00Kg
Salt 0.25Kg 0.25Kg 0.25Kg 0.25Kg 0.25Kg
Lysine 0.10Kg 0.10Kg 0.10Kg 0.10Kg 0.10Kg
Methionine 0.25Kg 0.25Kg 0.25Kg 0.25Kg 0.25Kg
Vitamin Premix 0.25Kg 0.25Kg 0.25Kg 0.25Kg 0.25Kg
T. S. M 0.00Kg 2.50Kg 5.00Kg 7.50Kg 10.00Kg 0.00Kg

Total 100.00Kg 100.00Kg 100.00Kg 100.00Kg 100.00Kg

Calculated analysis
Crude Protein (%) 23.09 22.81 22.54 22.26 22.90
Crude Fibre (%) 4.50 4.33 4.16 3.99 3.80
M.E (Kcal/Kg) 2822.71 2803.94 2785.16 2766.39 2747.67

Table 2 :Percentage Composition of The Experimental Diets at Finisher Phase

INGREDIENTS T1 T2 T3 T4 T5
(0% TSM) (25% TSM) (50% TSM) (75% TSM) (100% TSM)

Maize 53.50Kg 53.35Kg 53.25Kg 53.15Kg 53.05Kg

Soybean Cake 19.55Kg 19.55Kg 19.55Kg 19.55Kg 19.55Kg
P. K. C 17.00Kg 12.75Kg 8.50Kg 4.25.Kg 0.00Kg
Fish meal 4.00Kg 4.00Kg 4.00Kg 4.00Kg 4.00Kg
Palm oil 0.60Kg 0.60Kg 0.60Kg 0.60Kg 0.60Kg
Bone meal 4.50Kg 4.50Kg 4.50Kg 4.50Kg 4.50Kg
Salt 0.25Kg 0.25Kg 0.25Kg 0.25Kg 0.25Kg
Lysine 0.10Kg 0.10Kg 0.10Kg 0.10Kg 0.10Kg
Methionine 0.25Kg 0.25Kg 0.25Kg 0.25Kg 0.25Kg
Vitamin Premix 0.25Kg 0.25Kg 0.25Kg 0.25Kg 0.25Kg
T. S. M 0.00Kg 4.25Kg 8.50Kg 12.75Kg 17.00Kg

Total 100.00Kg 100.00Kg 100.00Kg 100.00Kg 100.00Kg

Calculated analysis
Crude Protein (%) 19.38 18.91 18.44 17.98 17.51
Crude Fibre (%) 4.63 4.34 4.05 3.76 3.47
M.E (Kcal/Kg) 2799.43 2767.51 2735.60 2703.68 2671.76

Management of experimental birds and experimental design

One hundred and fifty (150) day old broiler chicks which were sourced for from a reputable farm in Ibadan, Oyo
state, Nigeria were brooded together for the first two weeks of their life on commercial diet (Animal Care Feed ®) in
order to allow them develop some level of immunity after which they were randomly allocated into five treatment
groups consisting of thirty birds per treatment for the feeding trial and each treatment replicated thrice with ten birds
in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). All the necessary vaccinations and prophylactic treatments were given
as recommended by Oluyemi and Roberts (2000). The birds were weighed prior to the allocation into treatments and
replicates and the birds were placed on experimental Starter diet for another twenty eight days after the initial
brooding period. At the end of the twenty eight days on experimental starter diet, weight of the feed consumed and
the weight of the birds were recorded and their diet was changed to experimental Finishers diets for another four
weeks till the termination of the experiment after which the quantity of the feed consumed and the weight was also
determined.
Parameters evaluated
The growth performance was determined by subtracting the initial weight of the experimental birds in each replicate
before the commencement of the experiment from the final weight of the birds at the termination of the experiment
and the total feed consumed per replicate was calculated by dividing the difference between the total feed given and
the left over by the number of birds in each replicate. The Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) was determined by dividing
the quantity of feed consumed per replicate by the weight gain by each replicate. And to determine the
haematological profile, two birds were randomly selected from each replicate for the collection of blood using a 22
guage 2mls needle and syringe inserted dorsally caudad to the last rib on the left side for the collection of blood into
clean sterile bottle containing Ethylene- Diamine Tetra Acetic Acid (EDTA) to prevent coagulation of collected
blood which was taken to the laboratory for the analysis of the haematological profile.
Stastistical Analysis
All data obtained were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) according to the procedure of Steel and Torie
(1980) while the means were separated using Duncan multiple range test (Duncan 1955).
Results and Discussion
Table 3: Performance of Broiler Chickens fed graded level of Tigernut chaff as a Replacement for Palm
Kernel Cake
Parameters T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 LOS
(0% TSM) (25% TSM) (50% TSM) (75% TSM) (100% TSM)
Average initial
Weight (g/bird) 335.00a 376.70a 370.00a 363.00a 370.00a NS

Average final
Weight (g/bird) 2550.00a 2536.00a 2390.00a 2015.30ab 1740.00b *

Average weight
 Gain (g) 2215.00a 2159.00a 2020.00a 1652.00ab 1370.00b *

Average feed
Consumed (g/bird) 4780.00a 4713.00a 4669.00a 4320.00a 4211.00a NS

Feed Conversion
Ratio (FCR) 2.16b 2.18b 2.31b 2.62ab 3.07a *
Means with different superscripts on the same horizontal row are significantly different 9P<0.05: LOS:level of significance: NS: No
significant difference (p>0.005): * significantly different (p>0.005)

Table 4:Haematological indices of Broiler Chickens fed graded level of Tigernut chaff as a Replacement for
Palm Kernel Cake
Blood T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 X SEM LSD
Parameters (0%TSM) (25%TSM) (50%TSM) (75%TSM) (100%TSM)
PCV (%) 29.07a 29.03a 28.03a 27.03b 26.28bc 27.89 0.024 0.058

RBC
(x106/ml) 2.18a 2.19a 2.07ab 1.89b 1.68bc 1.98 0.02 0.06

Platelets
(x103/ml) 0.60d 0.92c 1.12b 1.26b 2.01a 1.18 0.025 0.061

Hb (g/dl) 8.40a 8.30a 8.07b 7.33c 7.02c 7.82 0.039 0.094

WBC
(x103/ml) 231.07b 232.27b 233.36b 244.03a 246.21a 237.39 0.024 0.056

MCH (Pg) 77.80c 93.00a 99.43a 65.75c 89.86b 87.15 0.03 0.05

MCV(µM3) 233.32a 206.81b 186.97b 154.84c 256.54a 207.70 0.31 0.34

MCHC (%) 19.99a 19.75a 19.21a 17.45b 16.71b 18.62 0.45 0.11
Means with different superscripts on the same horizontal row are significantly different P<0.05:PCV: packed cell volume:RBC: red blood
cell: WBC; white blood cell:Hb: Haemoglobin:x: mean value: SEM: standard error of mean: LSD: least significanf difference: MCH; mean
corpuscular haemoglobin;MCV: mean corpuscular volume:MCHC; mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration

From table 3, it was observed that no significant difference (P<0.05) exist in the average feed consumed by the
experimental birds across the treatments but significant difference exist (P<0.05) in the values of average weight
gain and the feed conversion ratio among the treatments. On the haematological indices it was discovered that
significant differences exist in all parameters measured between and within the groups as shown in table 4 above.
Conclusion and recommendation
Based on the results obtained from this research, it was discovered that the weight gain, the Packed Cell Volume, the
Haemoglobin Concentration and all other parameters measured decreases as the inclusion level of TSM increases in
the experimental diets. Thus this research has helped in concluding that TSM should not be included at high level
for the replacement of Palm Kernel Cake (PKC) in the feed for broiler chickens. It is therefore recommended that
other techniques of anti-nutrient neutralization before incorporation into broilers feed be employed and if soaking
should be used the length of time used in soaking should be above twelve hours used in this research work.

References
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