Performance and carcass characteristics of African giant land snails fed Alchornea cordifolia leaf meal in replacement for soyabean meal

摘要

Snail farming is environmentally sustainable venture and can be done with little skill (Akinnusi 1998). The protein content of snail meat is between 16 and 18% which compares well with other livestock's products like mutton, beef and pork (FAO 1986).There are recent research findings on the use of pawpaw leaf and fruit, cocoyam tubers and mango fruits for feeding snails (Awah, 1992) but there is a paucity of information on the use of the Alchornea cordifolia leaf meal (ACLM) in the diet of snails despite its nutrient content (Alikwe and Timibite, 2012). Hence this study was conducted to investigate growth and carcass analysis of snails fed ACLM