Growth of Pullets Fed Cassava Peel and Cashew Nut Reject Meal Diets : Cassava peel and cashew nut reject meal in the diets of laying birds

Four experiments were conducted on the growth response, nutrient utilization and laying pattern of pullets fed cassava peel meal (CPM) diet supplemented with cashew nut reject meal (CNM). Experiment 1 studied the protein quality of CPM and CNM using 12 male albino rats of the Wistar strain for 14 days. There were 4 diets: a basal diet, reference (casein) diet, CNM and CPM diets, allocated to 3 rats in each dietary treatment group. The data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance in a completely randomized design. In experiment 2, four hundred and thirty-two, 7 days old Yaafa brown pullet chicks were divided into 12 treatments with 3 replications of 12 birds each and fed for 56 days. The growth response, body temperature and blood constituents of growing pullets from experiment 2 were studied in experiment 3 for 13 weeks. Experiment 4 studied the growth response, body temperature, egg-laying performance and blood constituents of two hundred and eighty-eight Yaafa brown layers selected randomly from experiment 3 divided into 12 treatments with 3 replications of 8 birds each maintained in cage for 40 weeks on layers diets. A 10 % CPM and up to 30 % CNM was recommended.