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A total of three hundred (300) day old unsexed “Fidan' broiler chicks averagely weighing 100.25 0.44g were used to study the response of broiler birds to diets containing different levels of yellow tigernut meal (TNM) as a replacement for maize. The birds were randomly allotted to five dietary treatments of three replicates each containing 60 and 20 birds respectively. After 28 days, the birds were again randomized based on weights to commence the finisher phase in a completely randomized design. The treatment diets consisted of 0%, 25%, 50% 75% and 100% of TNM as replacement for maize as diets 1 (control) 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively. The result showed TNM to be low in protein (5.04%), moderate in fibre (13.01%) and high in ether extract (27.46%). Among the antinutritional factors, alkaloids, phytate and tannin were relatively high; 2.63mg/kg, 1.44mg/100g and 1.01mg/100g, respectively. Average weight gain (AWG) and final live weight (FLW) were high for birds fed 25 TNM and significantly (p0.05) differences in feed intake across the treatment diets. The feed conversion ratio and protein efficiency showed similar trend both in starter and finisher phases of broiler production, except that at the starter phase, there was poor feed utilization as the level of TNM exceeded 25%, while at the finisher phase, depression only set in at 100% TNM. Feed cost (N/kg) increased as the level of TNM increased in the diets. Among the nutrient utilization only fibre and ether extract were significantly (p |
