02-17-2016, 10:35 PM
Poultry
Chickens enjoying Azolla
Poultry and in particular ducks and chickens can be raised on a diet including fresh Azolla. It has long been recognized as a feed for wildfowl in the USA and for domesticated ducks in China and it has been used as a feed to domestic fowl in Vietnam (Dao & Tran, 1966).
The poultry industry has traditionally been one of the most profitable businesses in Bangladesh’sagriculture, providing nutritious meats and eggs for human consumption within the shortest possible time.
However, the industry is now threatened by higher prices and the non-availability of feed ingredients, reflecting feed costs comprising 60-65% of the total cost of poultry production.
In India, Subudhi & Singh (1978) concluded that fresh Azolla could replace about 20% of commercial feed in the diet of young chickens. They estimated that to replace this much commercial feed would require about 9 kg of fresh Azolla each day for 100 chickens and that this amount could be produced in a shallow pond 60 m² in area.
Alcantara & Querubin (1985) and Querubin et al. (1986) found that the nutrient digestibility of crude protein, crude fat, and crude fiber were not affected by the level ofAzolla in the ration, and that broilers can readily digest the crude fiber in Azolla, but not that in rice bran, so that digestibility is not a limiting factor when Azolla is used. Kamalasanana et al. (2002) and Prabu (2007) also found that the nutrient constitution of Azolla is almost identical to that of commercial poultry feed, except that Azolla’sprotein content is high and calcium content is slightly low.
Their feeding trials showed that 20–25% of commercial feed could be replaced by supplementing it with fresh Azolla, with the addition of Azolla feed also having a variety of benefits:
Birds with 75% of the regular feed and 12.5% in the form of Azolla had an almost equal weight to birds with 100% regular feed.
Furthermore, birds receiving normal feed with 5% extra in the form of Azollagrew faster than the birds with 100% feed alone and had a 10–12% increase in the total body weight.
The number of eggs laid per bird and the quality of eggs (the yellow yolk portion of egg being more prominent and yellowish) was better than in birds not fed onAzolla.
Basak et al. (2002) investigated the use of Azolla pinnata meal as a 5% supplementary feed for commercial broiler chicks in Bangladesh. Based on their investigations, they concluded that:
Live weight, production number and protein efficiency were significantly improved.
Feed conversion ratio and energy efficiency were significantly improved.
The total broiler was cost significantly lower with the Azolla meal.
Dressing and giblet percentages was significantly increased on diet with 5%Azolla meal.
Azolla meal had no deleterious effect on the palatability of the broiler diets.
The addition of Azolla meal has no deleterious effect on palatability of the diets.
Chickens enjoying Azolla
Poultry and in particular ducks and chickens can be raised on a diet including fresh Azolla. It has long been recognized as a feed for wildfowl in the USA and for domesticated ducks in China and it has been used as a feed to domestic fowl in Vietnam (Dao & Tran, 1966).
The poultry industry has traditionally been one of the most profitable businesses in Bangladesh’sagriculture, providing nutritious meats and eggs for human consumption within the shortest possible time.
However, the industry is now threatened by higher prices and the non-availability of feed ingredients, reflecting feed costs comprising 60-65% of the total cost of poultry production.
In India, Subudhi & Singh (1978) concluded that fresh Azolla could replace about 20% of commercial feed in the diet of young chickens. They estimated that to replace this much commercial feed would require about 9 kg of fresh Azolla each day for 100 chickens and that this amount could be produced in a shallow pond 60 m² in area.
Alcantara & Querubin (1985) and Querubin et al. (1986) found that the nutrient digestibility of crude protein, crude fat, and crude fiber were not affected by the level ofAzolla in the ration, and that broilers can readily digest the crude fiber in Azolla, but not that in rice bran, so that digestibility is not a limiting factor when Azolla is used. Kamalasanana et al. (2002) and Prabu (2007) also found that the nutrient constitution of Azolla is almost identical to that of commercial poultry feed, except that Azolla’sprotein content is high and calcium content is slightly low.
Their feeding trials showed that 20–25% of commercial feed could be replaced by supplementing it with fresh Azolla, with the addition of Azolla feed also having a variety of benefits:
Birds with 75% of the regular feed and 12.5% in the form of Azolla had an almost equal weight to birds with 100% regular feed.
Furthermore, birds receiving normal feed with 5% extra in the form of Azollagrew faster than the birds with 100% feed alone and had a 10–12% increase in the total body weight.
The number of eggs laid per bird and the quality of eggs (the yellow yolk portion of egg being more prominent and yellowish) was better than in birds not fed onAzolla.
Basak et al. (2002) investigated the use of Azolla pinnata meal as a 5% supplementary feed for commercial broiler chicks in Bangladesh. Based on their investigations, they concluded that:
Live weight, production number and protein efficiency were significantly improved.
Feed conversion ratio and energy efficiency were significantly improved.
The total broiler was cost significantly lower with the Azolla meal.
Dressing and giblet percentages was significantly increased on diet with 5%Azolla meal.
Azolla meal had no deleterious effect on the palatability of the broiler diets.
The addition of Azolla meal has no deleterious effect on palatability of the diets.