ABSTRACT

An experiment was conduct to determine the true metabolizable energy (TME) value of fermented composite cassava meal (FCCM) using adult broilers birds. In the experiment there was one feed input level of 25g to each bird. Twelve (12), (12weeks-old) broilers of (2.10- 2.40kg), were used for the experiment, the birds were weighed, paired on weight basis and each pair were randomly assigned to fed or fasted groups. The sample was ground, made into slurry and force-fed to finisher broilers that had been starved for 24hours. The force feeding was by means of a rubber funnel with a rubber tube attachment. The tube was gently inserted into the crop through the oesophagus by rotatory movement. The slurry was poured into the funnel and worked down to the crop with the aid of a glass rod. The tube was withdrawn out by reverse rotatory movement. After force feeding the birds had free access to fresh water at ad libitum. Then clean trays were placed under the cages for 24hours for faecal collection. Droppings were collected, dried and combusted in bomb calorimeter. From the results obtained, it shows that the gross energy of fermented composite cassava meal (FCCM) was 3.9lkcal/g, while the TME was 3.66kcal/g. This translates to TME yield of 93.61 %. The gross energy of composite cassava meal showed a moderate true metabolizable energy. However composite cassava meal is recommended as an alternative feedstuff for livestock mainly poultry. This is because it's cheaper and will help to alleviate the problem of direct competition between livestock and human beings for conventional feedstuff.