Effect of age and sex of egg strain chickens and of two stocking densities of broilers on voluntary water intake and performance in a sub-humid environment.

Voluntary water intake and performance of egg-strain chickens of different age groups and sex were compared. Cockerels grew faster and consumed 41% more feed and 43% more water than pullets of the same strain and age. Cockerels of nineteen weeks consumed significantly more feed (P < 0.05) than layers of 30 weeks of the same strain, but there was no significant difference in their daily voluntary water intake. The physiological activities associated with egg laying in chickens, apparently require more water to feed ratio than for the active growth of cockerels. In a second experiment, the effect of 2 stocking densities on voluntary water intake and performance were compared. Birds on higher stocking density (0.09 m2/bird) performed similarly to those on low stocking density (0.18 m2/bird), but the higher stocking density birds recorded slightly higher mortality. Voluntary water consumption was not significantly affected (P > 0.05), although birds on higher stocking density recorded slightly higher average daily voluntary water consumption. The higher stocking density birds recorded slightly higher per cent mortality during the 8 week period, but higher per cent mortality was recorded with the low stocking density birds during the 0 to 4 week brooding period.

Cassava peels in the diet of young pigs in Nigeria.

Cassava tuber peels were analysed for their chemical composition. Graded levels were included in the diets of young pigs in 2 separate experiments to determine their nutritive value for growth and their effect on carcass characteristics. Cassava peels made up 11.8% of the tuber and contained 19.10 MJ/kg, gross energy and 140.90 ppm free cyanide. In the first experiment, involving 40 individually fed pigs averaging 9.35 kg liveweight, levels of 0, 7.50, 15.0, 22.50 and 30.00% of cassava peels were included in iso-nitrogenous diets. There were no significant differences in growth performance between the dietary treatments (P > 0.05). In the second experiment, 32 individually penned pigs averaging 35.17 kg were fed iso-nitrogenous (16% CP) and iso-caloric (15.02 MJ/kg ME) diets in which cassava peels were included in the diets at levels of 0, 19, 38 and 57 per cent. There were no significant differences in average daily gain, average daily feed intake and feed/gain between treatments. Carcass weights and measurements were also not significantly different (P > 0.05). The use of cassava peels as a partial replacement for maize in young pig diets was shown to be cost effective. It was established in the study that up to a 57% level of inclusion had no deleterious effect on the pigs.

Pig trypanosomiasis: effects of infection on feed intake, liveweight gain and carcass traits.

Forty growing pigs were used in an experiment to determine the probable cause of retarded growth or weight loss in animals suffering from trypanosomiasis caused by Trypanosoma brucei, T. congolense or T. simiae. Animals infected with T. brucei or T. congolense had mild or symptomless infections with no significant effect on packed cell volume (PCV), voluntary feed intake, mean liveweight gain, feed conversion efficiency, carcass traits or feed cost per unit of weight gain. Uninfected pigs gained slightly more and required slightly less feed per unit of weight gain than pigs infected with T. brucei or T. congolense but the differences were non-significant. Pigs infected with T. simiae showed a marked drop in PCV and a significantly poor performance which was reflected in curtailment of feed intake, impaired feed conversion efficiency, growth failure, poor carcass traits and extremely high and uneconomical feed cost per unit of weight gain. Growth failure or weight loss in trypanosomiasis would appear to be due largely to the combined effect of reduced feed intake and impaired efficiency of feed conversion.