Potentials of 8%NaOH Treated Rice Husk Meal as a Replacement to Brewers Dried Grain on the Performance, Carcass and Blood Indices of Finisher Broilers

8 % NaOH treated rice husk was used to replace Brewers Dried Grain (BDG) in a 4 diet treatment trial. The control (T1) contained no treated rice husk while the husk replaced BDG at 33.33 %, 66.67 % and 100 % for T2, T3 and T4. The diets were assigned to 120 broilers of 28 days old in a complete randomized design of 10 broilers each replicated 3 times. Performance data was collected for 28 days. After which, the carcass, organ, hematology and biochemical parameters were examined. The body weight gain of the broilers in control group were significantly (P less than 0.05) better than those on the test ingredient. The daily feed intake was similar (P greater than 0.05) among the control andT2 but significantly lower than that of T3 and T4. There was significant reduction in breast muscle and liver/gallbladder for the groups on the test ingredient. The hematological and biochemical analysis also showed a significant effect in most of the parameters analyzed. The serum cholesterol dropped from 78.74mmol/l, which is value for T1 to 51.78mmol/l, 51.50mmol/l and 73.60mmol/l for T2, T3 and T4 respectively. No mortality was recorded. The study recommends that 8 % NaOH treated rice husk is not ideal to replace BDG in finisher broiler diet.