Performance Characteristics of African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) Fed Chicken Intestine

The use of chicken intestine as a dietary protein source was experimented for its ability to replace fishmeal in the diet of Clarias gariepinus African cat fish. Five dried diets (40 % crude protein) formulated at 0 % (control diet), 5 %, 10 %, 15 % and 20 % chicken intestine meal inclusion levels were fed to fingerlings of an average initial weight 16.02g +/-0.2. The experiment was conducted for 84 days and the growth parameters determined were as follows mean weight gain (MWG), specific growth rate (SGR), feed conversion ratio (FCR). The five inclusion levels of chicken intestine meal supported the growth of Clarias gariepinus fingerlings however the growth and feed utilization were highly favoured by low inclusion of chicken intestine meal. Significant differences (pless than0.05) were observed among the treatments, 5 % chicken intestine meal inclusion gave the best final mean weight gain of 47.27 g specific growth rate of 0.50 %, feed conversion ratio of 1.48 and protein efficiency ratio (PER) of 1.64 %. The carcass protein and lipid contents increased compared to the levels of both contents at the beginning of the experiment. Although, it was observed that the fish fed 10 % chicken intestine gained more protein and lipid of 61.25 % and 1.49 % respectively, followed by 5 % inclusion. However, the results showed that diet consisting of 5 % chicken intestine meal could be used as a replacement for fish meal in the diet of Clarias gariepinus fingerlings without any adverse effect.