Growth performance and reproductive qualities of breeder snails (Archachatina marginata) fed different sources of protein
Department of Agricultural Education, Federal College of Education (Technical) Asaba, Delta state, Nigeria.
Research Article
World Journal of Advanced Engineering Technology and Sciences, 2024, 11(01), 216–219.
Article DOI: 10.30574/wjaets.2024.11.1.0047
Publication history:
Received on 30 December 2023; revised on 09 February 2024; accepted on 12 February 2024
Abstract:
This experiment was conducted to compare the effects of different protein sources on the growth and reproductive performances of breeder snails, as protein sources are the main requirement for fast growth and development of cells for reproduction. Soya bean meal (SBM), cottonseed meal (CSM), and groundnut cake (GNC) were fed to the breeder snails. The snails were eight (8) months old with an initial average weight of 98.93g, and the experiment lasted for 12 weeks. Sixty (60) Archachatina marginata breeder snails were randomly selected and divided into 4 groups of fifteen (15) snails per treatment which were replicated three (3) times in each of the groups. The parameters examined were growth performance, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, and reproductive characteristics. Data collected were analyzed by the use of a one-way analysis of variance and significant means were separated with the Duncan Multiple Ranged Test at a 5% level of probability using SAS, 2011 [10]. The study revealed that soya bean meal (SBM) supports higher final body weight, body weight gain, and percentage fertility, while soya bean meal and cottonseed meal had higher percentage hatchability. However, no significant (P>0.05) differences were recorded in the final shell circumference, shell circumference gain, final shell length, and shell length gain. It was concluded that compounded feed with soya bean meal as the main protein source abetted fast growth and better productive performance.
Keywords:
Growth; Reproductive; Hatchability; Fertility; Breeder
Full text article in PDF:
Copyright information:
Copyright © 2024 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0