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This work was carried out in collaboration between all authors. Authors LAFA, OAE and CCE jointlydesigned the study, managed the collection of data and performed the statistical analysis.

Several efforts are being made to find the possibilities of utilizing Direct fed microbes (DFM) that has a potential to replace antibiotics as a result of its ability to prevent internal colonization of enteropathogenic enzymes, stimulate intestinal immunity of broiler chickens and reduce stress in animals. A studywas conducted using 120, one day-old Ross 308 broiler chicks to evaluate blood and serum chemistry response to direct fed microbes. The broiler chicks were obtained from a reputable hatchery and randomly assigned to four dietary treatments, each with three replicates of ten birds per treatment. The treatments were T1, T2, T3 and T4, with levels of inclusion of direct fed microbes (DFM) at 0, 2.5, 5% and 7.5%, respectively. The birds were assigned to these treatment diets, feed and water was given ad libitum throughout the duration of the experiment which lasted for 56 days. The experimental design was Completely Randomized Design (CRD). At the end of the experiment blood samples were collected from the chickens and taken to the laboratory for haematological and serum chemistry analysis. The haematological characteristics of the broiler chickens showed that there was no significant (P>0.05) in haemoglobin (Hb), Packed Cell Volume (PCV), Red Blood Cell (RBC), White Blood Cell (WBC), Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV), Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin (MCH) and Mean Cell Haemoglobin Concentration (MCHC). The WBC portrayed decreasing trend as the level of DFM increased, also the Hb, MCV and MCH portrayed an increasing trend as the DFM increased in the treatment diet up to the 5% inclusion level. The serum chemistry result shows that there were significant differences (P<0.05) in total serum protein and globulin whereas no significant differences (P>0.05) were observed in serum albumin, glucose, urea and creatinine. It could be concluded that fed diet 2 containing 2.5% DFM performed better as they compete favourably with the control. Broiler chickenss fed diet 2 also had a balanced physiological system

A comparative study was carried out on three breeds of snails in southeastern Nigeria to assess their carcass characteristic and carcass nutrient compositions. The three breeds used were Achatina fulica, Achatina achatina and Archachatina marginata. Four experimental diets were formulated to contain concentrate + pawpaw (Diet I), concentrate + Moringa oleifera (Diet II), concentrate + Moringa oleifera+ African spinach + Amaranthus hybridus (Diet III) and concentrate + Moringa oleifera+Amaranthus spinosus (Diet IV). Fifteen 6-month old growing snails of each breed was assigned per dietary treatment and each dietary treatment was replicated three times to contain five snails per replicate, given a total of one hundred and eighty snails. The experiment involved a 3 x 4 factorial experiment in a completely randomized design (CRD). Feed and water were given ad libitum throughout the duration of the experiment which lasted (56 days). At the end of the experiment, a total of seventy-two (72) snails were starved and slaughtered for carcass evaluation. Carcass nutrient compositions were measured including dry matter, moisture content, ash, crude fibre, crude protein, fat and nitrogen free extract. The results showed that the highest foot weight (57.50%) was observed in snails fed diet I, associated with relatively high live weight and highly reduced offal weight, which makes it comparatively better in improving carcass. The A. fulica, A achatina and A. marginata obtained best carcass composition respectively on diets I, III and II due to interaction effect of breed x diet. The A. achatina and A. marginata had higher dry matter (91.64 and 92.07 respectively) than the A fulica (90.09). The A. marginata carcass had the higher (p<0.05) crude protein (32.78%), highest ash (9.17%) and a moderate fat content (1.59%). Based on overall interaction effects, diet I is recommended for A. fulica, while diet III for A. marginata and diet II for A. marginata. The A. marginata performed better than the A. achatina and A. fulica in highest crude protein, highest ash and a moderate fat content and is thus recommended.

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