Abstract   

This study evaluated the growth performance and body composition of fish Oreochromis niloticus fed different levels (0, 5, 10, 15 and 20%) of dried poultry excreta (DPE) for a period of 60 days. Significant (P<0.05) differences were observed in the body weight gain, condition factor, specific growth rate (SGR), feed conversion ratio (FCR), protein efficiency ratio (PER) and net protein retention (NPR) values when the level of DPE in the fish diets was increased over 5%. Increasing the level of DPE in the diets significantly (P<0.05) reduced the growth performance of the fish. However, the diets containing 15 or 20% DPE did not show any significant (P>0.05) difference between each other. The inclusion of DPE in the diets did not affect (P>0.05) the body moisture and crude protein contents of fish. Feeding of DPE however, significantly (P<0.05) reduced the total body fat contents of fish as compared to those fed standard basal diet. The increasing level of DPE in the diets however did not produce any significant difference (P>0.05) in the body fat content of fish. Similar results were observed for the gross energy content of fish. The body ash content of fish increased significantly (P<0.05) with the increasing level of DPE in the diets and it was maximum in fish fed 20% of DPE. The results of the present study suggest that only 5% of DPE can be included in the diets of Oreochromis niloticus without any adverse effects on their growth performance. Higher levels of DPE in fish diets may also be used if a little lower fish biomass production is acceptable with higher cost benefit ratios.