A 56 - day feeding trial was conducted to evaluate pineapple crush waste (PCW) as dietary fibre source in broiler diets. Five straight diets were formulated to contain the PCWat dietary levels of 0%, 2.5%, 5.0%, 7.5% and 10.0% as replacement for wheat offal. One hundred and fifty (150), day-old "Anak 2000" broiler chicks were randomly allotted to the 5 diets containing three replicates per treatment with 10 chicks per replicate in a completely randomized design (CRD). The final body weight, daily weight, daily feed intake and daily protein intake were generally higher in the birds fed diet 2 (2.5% PCW). There were significant (P<0.05) differences in daily feed intake and daily protein intake between the group on diet l and the other groups, while daily weight gain, feed conversion ratio and protein efficiency ratio were statistically the same (P >0.05) across the treatments. Digestible crude fibre values significantly (P < 0.05) decreased with increasing levels of PCW in the diets while the other digestibility percentages were comparable (P >0.05) in all dietary treatments. Values for the hematological parameters and blood serum chemistry did not deviate (P >0.05) statistically from established normal values for chicken. However, liver weights significantly increased (P < 0.05) across the dietary treatments while other organs observed did not differ significantly (P >0.05) in weight across the treatments. Cost per kg feed decreased as the level of PCW inclusion in the diets increased while the cost per kg weight gain showed that birds sed on diet 4 (7.5% PCW) were the most economical to produce. The results suggest that PCW could replace wheat offal in broiler diet up to 10.0% as a dietary fibre source without any deleterious effect.

The experiment was designed to evaluate the effect of egg size on hatching quality and post-hatch growth performance of normal feathered indigenous chickens. Hatchable eggs, grouped into three sizes: medium/control, small and large, were incubated to obtain day-old chicks. One hundred and eighty (180) day-old chicks were allotted to three treatment groups according to the egg sizes from which they were hatched. Egg size significantly (p<0.05) influenced chick hatching weight. Chicks hatched from large eggs were the heaviest (36.89g) while those obtained from small ones were the smallest (31.02g). Daily growth rate (DGR) was progressive and uniform in both cockerels and pullets in the first 8 weeks of life across the treatment groups. It was concluded that egg size, though could determine chick hatching weight, but not a good predictor of post-hatch growth performance in normal feathered indigenous chickens

Body weight and carcass characteristics of broilers was investigated in a feeding experiment using 135 broilers of Abor acre strain in a completely randomised design that lasted for eight weeks at the Teaching and Research farm, Department of Agricultural education, Federal College of Education (Technical) Akoka Lagos Nigeria. The birds were randomly allotted to three dietary treatments of 45 chicks per treatment. Each treatment was replicated three times (15 chicks per replicate). Three isocaloric (2713.41 and 2918.76 Kcal/kg starter and finisher diets respectively) and isonitrogenous (Starter 24%CP and Finisher 20.37%) diets were formulated. The control diet was without mixture of ginger and garlic. The two other diets were T1:7.5g Ginger plus 7.5g Garlic mixture/25kg diet and T2: 15g Ginger plus 15g Garlic mixture/25kg diet. The experimental diets (starter and finisher diets) were offered to the respective bids with water ad libitum. The body weight gain (Kg) of birds fed control, T1 and T2:1.85, 1.90 and 1.74 respectively were not significantly different (p > 0.05).The feed intake (kg); 4.77, 4.22 and 4.02; and feed conversion ratio: 2.70; 2.22 and 2.31 for birds on control, T1 and T2 respectively were not different (p > 0.05) too. Birds on diet T2 recorded the highest liveability percentage (96%). Mixtures of ginger and garlic in ratio 1.1 up to 7.5g each in 25kg diets slightly increased final body weight gain and liveability; improved feed conversion ratio (FCR), reduced feed intake and dressed carcass percentage significantly (p<0.05) reduced weight of internal organs like liver, heart, kidney and gizzard. The increased final body weight gain and liveability as well as improved feed conversion ratio (FCR) of birds could possibly be due to improvement in feed digestion, additive advantage of nutrients and the anti-microbial property of the mixtures of ginger and garlic in the diets. While the reduced feed intake and dressed carcass percentage may be responsible for by the high fiber content, and some anti-nutritional factors in the ginger and garlic mixtures.Keywords: body weight, carcass characteristics, broiler chicken, Allium sativum, Zingiber officinale