Description
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
Nutrition is the most important consideration in any livestock enterprise. Its
(livestock industry) survival is dependent on the availability of feedstuffs, which are
mainly components of human food (Esonu et al., 2006). The aim of keeping
livestock and poultry is for the production of high quality protein. Agriculturists and
Nutritionist in Nigeria have generally agreed that poultry is the fastest means of
bridging the protein deficiency gap prevailing in the country (Olomu, 1995; Atteh,
2002). According to Olomu (1995) and Kekeocha (1994), broiler birds are fast
growing birds and are described as good converters of feed and are marketed from
eight to twelve weeks. Broiler birds are regarded as the type of birds that have high
feed consumption and conversion ratio of non-conventional feed ingredients that
cannot be directly consumed by man into high quality meat which are needed in
large quantity by man (Partmouth, 1991).