Abstract:
This study was employed to assess the management practices and constraints of commercial poultry farms, and performance evaluation of Sasso-C44 broilers fed on diets containing graded level dried rumen content mixture. Data on farm management was collected using a semi structured questionnaire survey substantiated with a focus group discussion, and field observations. Data on management variables were processed using SPSS version 29, and Garret’s ranking technique. Two hundred day old Sasso C44 broiler chicks were placed randomly to five dietary treatments for the experimental study using a completely randomized design (CRD). Experimental rations during both the starter age (1 28 days) and finisher (29 56 days) were: T1,T2, T3,T4 and T5. The experimental treatments consisted five dietary groups formulated by replacing roasted soybean meal (RSBM) with dried blood rumen content Mixture (DBRCM) at different levels. Data were analyzed using SAS version 9.2. Intensive production systems account for 94.5% of the farms, and deep litter housing management account for 73.1% of the farms studied. Average flock size per farm in the study area was 734 birds, and Bovan Brown chicken breed were the dominant breed identified in this study. The disease prevalence assessments revealed a ruffled feathers (13.5%), loss of appetite (11.5%), and depression (11.5%), followed by weight loss (9.6%) and diarrhea (7.7%). Producers largely blamed management gaps (44.2%) or environmental factors (34.6%) with 21.2% citing a combination of both the primary drivers of outbreaks. Vaccination efforts focused mainly on fowl pox (51.9%) and Newcastle disease (40.4%), while fewer farms vaccinated against infectious bursal disease (7.7%); vaccination schedules typically followed recommendations from the chicks’ source farms. On the biosecurity front, most producers adopted basic protective measures: Accordingly, 73.1% used protective clothing, plastic boots, and hair covers, 30.4% of producers were using gloves, and 67.3% were maintaining footbaths at farm entrances. The standard vaccination schedule used were IBD vaccine on day 1, NCD vaccine on day 7, and boosters on days 14, 28, and 42 against other diseases. Feed intake and chicken growth responses varied slightly among treatments that average daily dry matter intake was in the range of 66.38 g at T4 to 71.60 g at T1 and T5; intake in T4 was lower than those at T1, T2, T3, and T5. Daily weight gain ranged from 29.8 to 31.5 g/bird with no significant statistical difference among treatments (P>0.05). Feed
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conversion ratios ranged between 2.22 and 2.29 and were not different statistically among groups (P>0.05). With the conclusion, DBRCM can replace up to 60% soybean meals in both starter and finisher diets for Sasso--C44 broilers with no negative impact on performance and survivability. Carcass evaluation revealed that edible carcass weights were between 1085g and 1178g, and the dressing percentage ranged from 52.3% to 57.79%. Dressing percentage and carcass weights remained comparable across treatments, reinforcing that DBRCM can replace up to 60% of soybean meals with a positive effect on growth performance and carcass quality. The economic analysis clearly indicated that birds under T3 and T4 had higher (P<0.05) economic efficiencies than those under T1 and T5. In conclusion replacing RSBM with DBRCM up to a level of 60% in both starter and finisher diets seems to reduce feeding costs and improve economic efficiency due to its free availability and labor affordability without adverse effects on overall performance, feed conversion, or carcass characteristics in Sasso--C44 broilers
