Increasing human population has led to c onsumption of beef from slaughtered cattle generating massive waste both edible and inedible . The inedible waste majorly keratinous in nature can be processed into protein rich feedstuff ingredients and uti lised in animal nutrition. Information on CHM utilisation is limited. The nutritional composition of Cattle Hoof Meal (CHM) and its digestibility has been assessed. This study investigated the utilisation limit of CHM based diet by Clarias gariepinus juveniles.
Catfish juveniles of average weight 18.45g was fed processed alkaline cattle hoof meal (CHM) diets for 12 weeks stocked at 25 fish/plastic tank in replicate. Replacement of fishmeal with CHM was on protein basis, with dietary formulation of 40% crude protein at inclusion levels of 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of CHM (Table 1).
At the end of experiment catfish fed diet of 75% and 50% fishmeal had comparable significant (P=0.05) final weigh t (FW), mean weight gain (MWG) , specific growth rate (SGR) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) compared to other dietary treatments (Table 2). Regression analysis re sult showed that alkaline treated CHM can be used for optimal fish growth up to 62% without implication on fish survival (Fig.1). Reduction in performance at inclusion greater than this impairs growth and feed utilization.