THE ECONOMIC BENEFIT OF KAOLIN SUPPLEMENTATION IN BROILER DIETS

The economic benefit of using kaolin (clay) as a feed additive in broiler diets was evaluated in an 8 week feeding trial. The experiment was carried out at the poultry section of Rivers State University of Science and Technology Teaching and Research farm, Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt- Rivers State, South-south of Nigeria. A total of 120 Hubbard strain of broiler chicks weighing an average of 60g were allocated to four dietary treatments with 10 birds each being a replicate and 3 replicates comprising a treatment in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD).. Four diets were used comprising 0g kaolin/kg feed, 10g kaolin/kg, 20g kaolin/kg and 30g kaolin/kg representing treatments A, B, C and D respectively. The proprietary feed used in this study at both the starter and finisher phases was of top feed with protein contents of 22% for starter and 18% for finishers. They contained 2800 ME/Kcal/kg and 2900 ME/Kcal/kg respectively. Weekly weight gain and daily feed intake were recorded while the cost of feed was also determined. The result showed that significant differences (P<0.05) existed in feed intake and feed conversion ratio. With respect to feed intake, the control (0g kaolin/kg) recorded the highest while all the treated groups had the least and comparable intakes. Also feed conversion ratio was best in the 10g Kaolin/kg and 30g/kaolin/kg. The result showed no significant (P>0.05) differences in the cost/kg feed. The result also showed that the inclusion of kaolin in the diets reduced the cost of total feed consumed in all the treated groups when compared to the control. The cost for feeding in the control group accounted for ₦459.00 which is about 49.95% of the total cost of production in relation to feed consumed. Those on the treated groups accounted for ₦ 423.0 (47.91%), ₦ 441.20 (48.96%) and ₦ 432.30 (48.45%) respectively for treatments B, C and D. The result indicated that there was no mortality in all the groups suggesting the safety of using kaolin in broiler chicken diets. The results of this experiment clearly demonstrate the economic benefits of the inclusion of kaolin (clay) in broiler chicken diets. Poultry farmers are therefore advised to take advantage of the economic gain obtained by the complimentary responses of chicken fed kaolin diets.