Poverty, inadequate dietary intake, and diseases are the major causes of malnutrition in Nigeria. Averagely, Nigerians consume about 5.5 g of animal protein per day which is low compared to the minimum of 30 g per per...Poverty, inadequate dietary intake, and diseases are the major causes of malnutrition in Nigeria. Averagely, Nigerians consume about 5.5 g of animal protein per day which is low compared to the minimum of 30 g per person per day as recommended by Food and Agricultural Organization. The concept of household food security ensures that adequate food can be obtained, either through home production or purchases. Snail production is one of the means through which these ills could be eliminated. Protein deficiency that is endemic in developing nations can be reduced through the domestication of micro-livestock like snail which is rich in protein and iron. Sixty Achatina achatina hatchlings were used in a 90 days feeding trial. The hatchlings were assigned to four treatments in a Completely Randomized Design with three replicates each. Maggot meal was incorporated at the levels of 0.6, 1.4, and 2 kg per 100 kg of feed in treatments 2, 3 and 4, respectively. Treatment 1 had no maggot meal and served as the control. Results showed that snail weight, shell length and shell width increased with increase in the levels of maggot meal. Hatchlings on T3 and T4 had statistically similar values （P 〉 0.01） which were significantly （P 〈 0.01） higher than values obtained for hatchlings on T1 and T2 .Weight gain and feed conversion values of hatchlings on T3 and T4 were also significantly higher than values observed for hatchlings on T1 and T2. Therefore, maggot meal could effectively replace fishmeal in the diet of African giant snail hatchlings.展开更多
文摘Poverty, inadequate dietary intake, and diseases are the major causes of malnutrition in Nigeria. Averagely, Nigerians consume about 5.5 g of animal protein per day which is low compared to the minimum of 30 g per person per day as recommended by Food and Agricultural Organization. The concept of household food security ensures that adequate food can be obtained, either through home production or purchases. Snail production is one of the means through which these ills could be eliminated. Protein deficiency that is endemic in developing nations can be reduced through the domestication of micro-livestock like snail which is rich in protein and iron. Sixty Achatina achatina hatchlings were used in a 90 days feeding trial. The hatchlings were assigned to four treatments in a Completely Randomized Design with three replicates each. Maggot meal was incorporated at the levels of 0.6, 1.4, and 2 kg per 100 kg of feed in treatments 2, 3 and 4, respectively. Treatment 1 had no maggot meal and served as the control. Results showed that snail weight, shell length and shell width increased with increase in the levels of maggot meal. Hatchlings on T3 and T4 had statistically similar values （P 〉 0.01） which were significantly （P 〈 0.01） higher than values obtained for hatchlings on T1 and T2 .Weight gain and feed conversion values of hatchlings on T3 and T4 were also significantly higher than values observed for hatchlings on T1 and T2. Therefore, maggot meal could effectively replace fishmeal in the diet of African giant snail hatchlings.
