Fish meal replacement with chicken waste meal in Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer) feeds

Abstract

An eight week growth trial was conducted to study the effect of replacement of fish meal with processed chicken waste meal (CWM) in the diet of Asian seabass, Lates calcarifer. Analysis of CWM showed that it has 53% crude protein and 32% crude lipid. Effect of replacement of fish meal (FM) with CWM was carried out by including CWM at 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20% (W/W) levels in an isonitrogenous (40%) and isolipidic (10%) diet. The experiment was carried out in a completely randomised design with three replicates for each treatment and each replicate containing ten animals (average initial body weight of 3.09±0.04 g). The results showed that there was no significant (p>0.05) difference in the final body weight (FBW), weight gain %, feed intake, feed conversion ratio (FCR), condition factor (CF) and average daily gain (ADG) in the fish, fed with diets containing CWM upto 10%. Inclusion of CWM at more than 10% level showed a significant (p<0.05) reduction in the growth parameters, compared to control diet. There was no significant difference in survival rate among the fish fed with different experimental diets. Similarly, hepatosomatic index (HSI) and viscerosomatic index (VSI) showed no significant difference (p>0.05) among the treatment groups. The results from this study indicate that the CWM is a potential ingredient in the diet of Asian seabass L. calcarifer and it can be included up to 5-10% levels, replacing fish meal. However further studies are needed to optimise the level of CWM in the diet of seabass.