Effect of replacement of fish meal with broiler chicken viscera on growth, feed utilization and production of African catfish Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822)

Abstract

A 42-days experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary replacement of fish meal with chicken viscera meal on growth, feed utilization and production of Clarias gariepinus. Fish (initial weight 8.0 ± 0.4g) were hand-fed twice daily to apparent satiation with three isonitrogenous (43% crude protein) and isocalorics (20 KJ/g gross energy) diets containing three levels of chicken viscera, 0% (diet A0), 30% (diet A30) and 50% (diet A50). The diet A0 acted as a control diet. Experimental diets were compared to the commercial diet Coppens developed for Catfish. At the end of the experiment, survival rate was high, with value ranging from 94.3% to 97.5%. Fish fed viscera meal showed significantly lower total feed intake (range: 2117 – 2183 g) than that of fish fed coppens (5195 g) and viscera-free (5800 g). Final weight (range: 39 - 111g), specific growth rate (range: 3.8 – 6.3%/day), food conversion ratio (range: 1.1 – 1.4), protein efficiency ratio (range: 1.7 - 2.2) and annual production (range: 14.7 – 50.6 Kg/m3/year) were significantly higher in fish fed coppens and A0 (P