Abstract

The study was conducted to determine the performance of grain residues as feed resources in chicks. Three different rations were formulated using grain residues and salted groundnut cake. The performance of these rations (F₂, F₃, and F₄) and commercial feed (F₁) were comparatively studied for a period of ten weeks in term of body weight gain, temperature and cytological implications in ANAK 2000 chicks. The results revealed that the chicks maintained on the commercial feed had comparative better performance in term of body weight gain than grain residues. Comparatively, the maize husk ration (F₂) had better performance than rice husk (F₃) and cowpea pod (F₄) rations. This performance may be attributed to some factors such as its documented nutritive values and its colour, aroma and texture which compare favourably with the commercial feed. At P< 0.05, there was a significant difference between feeds effect and body weight gain, but no significant difference was observed between feeds effect and body temperature of chicks. No blood haemorrhage and ulceration was revealed in the result of cytological examinations of gastrointestinal lining, heart, lung and gizzard of the chicks. From the work carried out, maize husk which is otherwise wasted is hereby recommended for rural poultry farmers as a feed resource for formulation of a least cost ration, which will be economical, reduce space occupied by biomass and enhance the performance of the chicks.

Key words: chick, ration, cytological, residue, temperature, weight.