Apparent Nutrient and Mineral Retention of Broilers Fed Periwinkle Flesh (Pachymelania aurita) and Palm Kernel Cake in Replacement to Fish Meal

Fishmeal has contributed immensely as a rich protein source in the diets of poultry in Nigeria. However the cost of fishmeal has increased leading to high cost of poultry feed. This has fueled the search for cheaper alternative protein sources as a way of reducing cost. Two of such alternatives are periwinkle (Pachymelania aurita); a marine molluscs and palm kernel cake a by-product of oil palm. This study investigated the apparent nutrient and mineral retention of broilers fed periwinkle flesh (Pachymelania aurita) and palm kernel cake in place of fishmeal. One hundred and eighty (180) day-old Hyperco broiler chicks were randomly assigned to five dietary treatments 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 with 3 replicates each and 12 chicks per replicate. Periwinkle flesh was fed in place of 2% fishmeal at 0, 2.5 and 6.0% inclusions respectively. Apart from Diet 1, which served as control, all others had in addition to maize 15% or 25% inclusion of palm kernel cake. The birds had access to water ad libitum. At 7 weeks of age, two experimental birds were randomly selected from each replicate and placed in metabolic cages; allowed to acclimatize for two days before metabolic trials. The feeding of 25% Palm Kernel cake (PKC) along with 2% fishmeal or 6% periwinkle flesh resulted in significantly (P<0.05) higher Ca, Mg and K retention when compared to the feeding of 15% PKC or 25% PKC along with a mixture of 1% fishmeal and 2.5% periwinkle flesh. Other minerals P, Mn, Na, and Fe, were not significantly affected. The apparent nutrient retention of broiler chickens was not significantly influenced. Results of the study indicate that feeding 6% periwinkle flesh and 25% is suitable for replacing fishmeal and reducing maize thereby reducing cost of feed.