Effect of different feeds on growth performance of Archachatina marginata

摘要

An 8week completely randomized design [CRD] feeding trial was conducted to determine the growth performance of snails fArchachatina marginata) fed with five different feed materials.-Forty Juvenile snails were allotted to five treatments, replicated twice with 4 snails/replicate. Snails were fed Treatment I (Chicken mash as the control), Treatment 2(Water melon peel), Treatment 3 (Oil palm fruit), T4 (Cocoyam leaves) and T5 (Sweet potatoes leaves), using a trench cage. The snails were obtained from areputable market in Ekiti Slate and acclimatized for two weeks and fed for eight weeks. Data was collected on weekly basis by measuring growth parameters; shell length increase (cm), shell circumference (cm), and weight gain (g). Proximate analysis of the feed revealed that Moisture content and crude protein in Water melon peel (38.12% and 14.17%) were higher than oil palm fruit (28.01% and 7.64%); sweet potato leaves (28.17% and 7.96%) and Cocoyam leaves (23.74% and 7.66%). Considering the weight gained, chicken mash (control) (41.75+19.16) and water melon peel (30.13+2.71g) were significantly (p<0.05) higher than oil palm fruit (27.88±2.80g); cocoyam leaves (/8.38±7.38g) and sweet potato leaves (14.75+0.40g). Thus, water melon peel could be exploited as a cheap feed resource for small holder snail production in the humid tropics.