Replacement of fish meal with poultry by-product meal (chicken intestine) as a protein source in grass carp fry diet

Present study evaluated the suitability of chicken intestine as an alternate protein source of fish meal for grass carp fry diet. Feed ingredients were collected from the local market and were analyzed for protein, fat, ash, fiber, moisture content and energy. The basal diet (FM30) was formulated with 30% fish meal. Other experimental diets were formulated with chicken intestine meal 7.5% (FM22.5), 15.0% (FM15.0), 22.5% (FM7.5) and 30% (FM0) replacing 7.5, 15.0, 22.5, and 30% of the fish meal respectively. All the diets were designed to contain equivalent levels of -nitrogen -lipids and energy resulting in diets with 35% protein, 10% lipid and 429-431 kcal energy per 100g diet. An eight week feeding trial was conducted under laboratory conditions. FM22.5 and FM15.0 had almost similar growth as compared to basal diet (FM30) but significantly higher growth was recorded in FM7.5 (P less than 0.01) and FM0 (P less than 0.05) as compared to the basal diet. Lowest feed conversion ratio was observed for treatments with higher growth and vice versa. The results of the present study reveal that although the best growth was achieved in the dietary treatment with 75% chicken intestine meal but 100% chicken intestine meal can also replace fish meal without addition of amino acids and compromising growth and feed conversion ratio in grass carp fry diet.