Effects of Varying Levels of Dried Poultry Droppings on Haematology, Microbial Properties and Nutrient Utilization of Clarias gariepinus

Abstract

Effects of varying levels of Dried Poultry Droppings fed Clarias gariepinus were investigated for 84 days. The fish meal was partially and completely replaced by dried poultry droppings at 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% inclusions and was allotted T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 respectively. Investigation conducted on the occurrence of microbes in the fish feeds revealed that T5 varied significantly (p<0.05) in Total Viable Count (TVC) (13.0×105 cfu/g) and Total Fungal Count (TFC) (0.70×105 cfu/g) respectively. The microbial properties of the fish carcass showed that T5 was significantly higher (p<0.05) in TVC (2.72×105 cfu/g), TCC (0.33×105 cfu/g), while T3 and T5 were significantly higher in TFC (0.20×103 cfu/g). The haematological parameters of Clarias gariepinus fed diet substituted with dried poultry droppings showed that Packed Cell Volume (PCV) (43.00 g/l) and Haemoglobin (Hb) (11.23 g/l) of T1 were significantly higher (p<0.05) than other treatments. The values of Red Blood Cell (RBC) revealed that T2 (3.77×106 mm3 ) was significantly different (p<0.05) compared to other treatments. The growth performance showed that T2 varied significantly (p<0.05) in Mean Weight Gain (MWG) (29.33 g) and Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) (0.09). The findings of the current study imply that feed microbes affected the haematological parameters of the fish and equally suppressed the growth of the fish.