A note on nutritive value of blend of blood and ground maize cob for broiler chickens

Blend of blood and ground maize cob (BLOMC) was analysed and compared with wheat bran. Experiment was conducted on 300 14-day-old broiler chickens allocated to 5 dietary treatments, each consisting of 3 replicates. Birds were given diets containing 0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 g BLOMC kg(-1), replacing equal amounts of wheat bran. Growth performance and carcass yield of birds fed diets containing BLOMC did not differ markedly from those on the control diet, except the efficiency of feed utilization, which improved (r = 0.77; P<0.05) with the inclusion of BLOMC in diets. There were neither health-related problems nor mortality due to the addition of BLOMC to the diet. Dietary treatments did not have significant (P>0.05) impact on organ weights, except the gizzard weight, which was highest (P<0.01) in birds fed on the diet which contained 120 g BLOMC kg(-1). Examination of heart, kidney, liver, spleen, lung and pancreas revealed no gross abnormalities from feeding of BLOMC. It was cheaper to produce broilers using BLOMC than using wheat bran.