The Influence of Heat-Treated Sheep Droppings on the Performance, Carcass Characteristics and Economics of Production of Starter Broilers

The goal of this study was to determine the influence of Heat-treated Sheep Droppings (HSD) on the performance, carcass characteristics and economics of production of starter broilers. One hundred and sixty eight, 7-days old Anak 2000 broiler chicks were randomly allocated to 4 dietary treatments in three replicates of14 birds each. Four broiler starter diets were formulated such that HSD were fed at 0, 5, 10 and 15% inclusion levels. The experimental period lasted from 7-35 days of age. Growth performance, carcass characteristics and economics of production were studied. Results showed that the proximate analysis indicated that HSD contains reasonable amounts of protein, ether extract, nitrogen free extract and ash as well as high amount of fibre. There was a significant) increase in feed intake with increase in dietary level of HSD. There was a significant depression of weight gain and protein efficiency ratio at 15% HSD inclusion level while the weight gain and protein efficiency ratio of bird fed 5 and 10% HSD diets were not at variance with those fed 0% diet. The feed conversion ratio of the birds depreciated significantly at 10 and 15% HSD dietary levels. The carcass parts expressed as percentages of live weight were not significantly influenced by the treatments except for the gizzard, which had significantly high values in birds fed diets 3 and 4. HSD inclusion at 10% proved more advantageous in terms of feed cost per kg of live broiler and in percentage cost saving. It is concluded from the result of this study that HSD is a potential feedstuff in broiler starter feeding at up to 10% dietary level beyond depression of growth occurs.