Effect of alum-treated groundnut (Arachis hypogea) shell (ATGNS) meal was studied on the blood chemistry and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens. Two hundred and forty (240) day-old broiler chicks of Anak strain were used for the study in a completely randomized design for eight weeks. The chicks were allotted into six groups of forty chicks each and further divided into four replicates of ten chicks each.Groundnut shell (GNS) was processed by soaking it in water containing alum in ratio 1kg of groundnut shell: 15 litre of water: 600g of alum for three, four, five and six days. Wheat offal was included at 10% in T1 as positive control, 4% wheat offal and 6% untreated groundnut shell (GNS) in T2 as negative control, and 4% wheat offal with 6% treated GNS in treatments 3, 4, 5 and 6 at three days, four day, five days and six days of processing respectively. Results on haematological parameters were not significantly (p>0.05) different except mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH). Birds in T5 performed better than others in mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) with highestvalues of 123.83% and 41.93pg respectively, while birds in T3 had the lowest values of 115.28% and 39.05pg in the two parameters respectively. There were significant (p<0.05) differences in serum total protein, albumin and globulin, while other parameters measured showed no significant (p>0.05) differences in serum biochemical studies. Birds fed treatment 1 (T1) had the highest values of 3.95 and 2.72g/dl in total protein and globulin respectively, while the lowest values 2.55 and 0.97g/dl were obtained from birds in T6 respectively. Cut-up parts showed significant (p<0.05) differences in head, neck, back and thigh across treatment means with the exception of other parameters considered. The live weights of birdson processed groundnut shell meal, although not significantly (p>0.05) different, were better (p<0.05) than those on untreated groundnut shell meal (T2). Birds in T6 had the highest values (2.95, 4.60 and 12.53%) in head, neck and thigh respectively. The highest weight (18.02%) of back was recorded in T1. Birds in T4 had the highest values of 19.60 and 4.20% in breast muscle and shank respectively, while those in T3 recorded the lowest (14.65%) in breast muscle, and those in T2 had the lowest (3.56%) in shank. The results in conclusion, showed that alum-treated groundnut shell(ATGNS) could replace wheat offal at 6% level of inclusion by improving carcass yield as well as maintainingblood profile of broiler chickens.
Keywords: Groundnut shell, alum, blood chemistry, carcass, broiler
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