Abstract:
There is a high cost of feeding poultry in developing countries in Africa. To this end, the effectiveness of Shea Nut Cake (SNC) [an agro-industrial by-product obtained from the processing of the nuts of the shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa) for fat production] as feedstuff was investigated in 280 (Arbor Acres) broilers assigned to seven feed diet in 4 replicates with 10 birds per replicate for six weeks. SNC was divided into three-part one of them remained crude (untreated) and the other two parts of SNC were either treated by 0.01M NaOH solution or fermented using yeast, Samples of the treated and untreated SNC were analyzed for their nutrient contents using AOAC (1990) methods. Proximate analysis of untreated and treated Shea nut cake gave no different in the content of DM, CP, CF, E.E, Ash or NFE. The CP was around 13%, CF reneged between 8.64-11.76%, E.E was about 13%, the Ash was about 7%, and NFE was around 50%. The tannin content of raw SNC 46.04% was remarkably reduced to 17.19% and 23.56% by the treatment of NaOH solution and yeast fermentation respectively. The control diet (T1) contained 0% SNC while diets T2 and T3 contained 10% and 20% untreated SNC inclusion rate respectively, T4 and T5 contained NaOH treated shea nut cake inclusion rate 10, 20% respectively and T6 and T7 contained 10% and 20% yeast fermented SNC. All diets were iso-nitrogenous and iso-caloric. The recorded performance parameters were live body weight, body weight gains, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, carcass yield%, and internal organs weight. The highest live body weight LBW and Body weight gain BWG were obtained with 10% NaOH treated SNC which not differ significantly (P<0.05) from values obtained with 0% SNC and 10% fermented SNC, while the poorest LBW and BWG values were obtained with 20% fermented SNC diet. Feed intake for chicks on diet (T1, T4 and T6) were similar and superior to those on diets (T2, T3, T5, and T7), (chicks on diet (T6) consumed the highest and chick on diet (T7) consumed the least). Feed conversion ratio (FCR) was 2.35 in the diet (T1) and 2.56 in the diet (T7) the birds on (T4) recorded the best FCR. A reduction in live body weight, feed intake, body weight gain was observed when the 20% inclusion level of treated and untreated SNC in the diet. Hematological and blood serum parameters obtained after 49-day trial showed that White blood cell, blood cell, and Hemoglobin concentration had the following range 100.23-41.85 x10ᶟμl, 2.26- 8.5-2.81 x10ᶟμl and 15.54-12.45 g/dl respectively. It was concluded that the inclusion level of 10% untreated SNC did not influence birds’ performance. Additional processing methods for shea nut cake are recommended
