Enhancement Of The Nutritive Value Of Bagasse Using Chicken Manure

The study investigated the effects of chicken manure droppings on the nutritive value of sugar cane bagasse upon fermentation. It was hypothesized that the use of the two low cost residues (bagasse and chicken manure) in an animal feed could present a great nutritional potential to livestock farmers. Five treatments were made in duplicates, containing zero (control), 2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10% chicken manure. The measurements included pH changes, organic matter digestibility as well as proximate analyses of Crude protein (CP), Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF), Crude fiber (CF). Fat and ash content of bagasse were determined before and after fermentation for 21 days. A further investigation involved in-sacco digestibility determination. Data was obtained by insertion of nylon bags containing various rations into a fistula of rumen fistulated animal and removed at 3, 6, 12, 24, 48 72 and 96 hours. The bagasse used in had a moisture content which averaged 48 %.± 3.0 with an initial pH of 6.9 ±0.15. There was variation on the composition of the manure dependent on the source amongst all the parameters assessed. The broiler manure had the highest crude protein content and this differed significantly (p< 0.05). Substantial amounts of Ca were found to be present in the chicken layer manure. Fermentation of bagasse for a period of 21 days improved bagasse digestibility from 35% to an average of 81%. All rations analyzed after fermentation showed significant (p<0.05) decline in NDF content compared with before fermentation. The 10% chicken manure assay analyzed before fermentation showed a higher value of ash compared with after fermentation. The in vitro dry matter digestibility progressively increased significantly (p< 0.05) with the increase of chicken manure level in the diet. The organic matter before fermentation was determined to be 59.2±2.1 compared to 45±1.8 after fermentation which was significant (p<0.05). The dry matter digestibility was observed to increase significantly (p<0.05) with addition of chicken manure in the formulated diet which peaked at 50.26 at 10 % manure. Addition of chicken manure had an incremental increase in the crude protein degradability which differed significantly (p<0.05) from 2.5% to 10%. The findings suggest that microbial fermentation of bagasse using chicken dropping improves its digestibility to the extent that it can be utilized as an alternative livestock feed.