Replacement Value of Ensete ventricosum Corm and Kocho for Maize in Broiler and Layers Ration

This dissertation is composed of three separate experiments. The first and second studies evaluated the performance of broilers and white leghorn layers fed different levels of enset corm replacing maize grain. The third experiment assessed the performance of white leghorn layers fed kocho diets replacing maize. In the studies with enset corm treatments were ration consisting 0 (T1), 15 (T2), 30 (T), and 45% (T4) of enset corm as a replacement for maize by weight. In the experiment with kocho there were also four dietary treatments that consisted of kocho at the level of 0% (T1), 33% (T2), 67% (T3) and 100% of the ration replacing maize grain. In the first study, one hundred ninety two unsexed day old Cobb 500 chicks were used. In the second and third experiments, 180 White leghorn layers of 26 weeks of age and 24 cocks for each experiment were used. The experimental animals in all studies were randomly and equally divided into the treatments and three replications per treatment in a completely randomized design. The broilers and layer experiments lasted 42 days and 12 weeks, respectively. Diets for each study were formulated to be isocaloric and isonitrogenous. In the broiler studies, four birds 2 from each sex were randomly taken from each replication and slaughtered for carcass evaluation at the end of the study. The metabolizable energy content of enset corm, kocho and maize were 3718, 3647 and 3696 kcal/kg DM, respectively. The crude protein content of enset corm, kocho and maize were 3.2, 3.8, and 9.3%, respectively. During the broiler starter phase and entire period dry matter intake ranged 48.6-52.3g/bird and 86.9-90.0g/bird, respectively and were significantly higher (p>0.05) for T4 than the remaining treatments. The mean daily DM intake of layers consumed T1 enset corm diet was significantly lower (P