Palm kernel cake supplemented with cassava flour waste as energy source for pigs

Abstract

Thirty six (36) growing crossbred (Large White X Landrace) pigs (16.14 ± 0.67 kg) were used to determine the effect of replacing maize by palm kernel cake  (PKC) supplemented with two levels of cassava flour waste (CFW) on the chemical composition of the diets, performance, economy of the production, serum metabolites and hematological values of the growing pigs. Two levels of CFW (20% PKC + 10% CFW and 20% PKC + 20% CFW) were included in the diets of growing pigs to replace 40% maize inclusion on a weight to weight basis in the 42-day feeding trial. The chemical composition of the diets revealed the increase of 74.4-77.6% in the crude fibre content over the control diet with a resultant decrease 10.9-11.7% in the energy concentrations in the test diets.  The average  daily weight gains, feed efficiency and protein utilization were comparable between the treatment groups. The cost of feed / kg live weight of pigs reduced (P < 0.05) significantly at the two levels of supplementation resulting in comparable economic gains at the two levels of replacement. The serum and hematological indices were similar between the groups, but groups differed for serum urea N and creatinine values. PKC supplemented with CFW can be efficiently utilized as energy source by growing pigs without depressing performance in an attempt to reduce the cost of feeding.