Growth and Haematological Effects of Replacing Maize with Feed Wastes on the Juvenile Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822)

Effect of Substituting Poultry Waste Meal for Corn in the Diet of the African Clariid Catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell 1822) Juveniles

“…Profitability and viability of a fish farming enterprise depend largely on the total cost of fish feeds as feeding cost represents the most expensive component of the fish farming enterprise, therefore, the more the inclusion level of PWM in this experiment, the more profitable and viable the project would be. This is in line with the findings of [12] who reported that the use of some industrial wastes in replacing maize in the diet of Clarias gariepinus all reduced total feed cost per kg by at least 30%. The fish farming sector is currently faced with the challenge of the inadequate and prohibitive cost of quality fish feeds, therefore, it is pertinent that the use of alternative sources of nutrients that ordinarily pass as waste and usually discarded such as PWM used in this experiment be explored as it is not competed for like maize.…”

“…It is also a common practice in integrated poultry-cum-fish farming that poultry wastes could serve as the main source of food for the fish all through the culture period, bringing about adequate growth at little cost with no adverse effect on the fish health. The result of this study further corroborates the work of [12] who reported that some industrial wastes of the food industry (biscuit, Indomine ® and Gala ® wastes) had equal potentials in replacing maize as an energy supplement when incorporated to the Clarias gariepinus feed with positive effects on the growth and haematological parameters of the fish.…”

“…Incorporating it in the diet of Clarias gariepinus would greatly reduce the cost of feed and consequently the cost of production and increase the profit margin of farmers. Several authors have also worked on the replacement of maize with lesser-used ingredients with varying levels of success [14,12,6,15,16].…”