This research proposal aims to study the effects of different inclusion levels of alkali-treated pito mash on the hematological response of broilers. The researcher will feed broilers four different diets with 0%, 10%, 20%, and 30% inclusion levels of alkali-treated pito mash. Data on growth parameters, blood parameters, and economic costs and returns will be collected and analyzed. The results are intended to identify optimal inclusion levels of alkali-treated pito mash in broiler feed to improve performance while reducing costs.

1. VALLEY VIEW UNIVERSITY-TECHIMAN CAMPUS
FACULTY OF AGRICULTURE
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
RESEARCH TOPIC;
THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT INCLUSION LEVELS OF ALKALI-TREATED PITO MASH ON
THE HEMATOLOGICAL RESPONSE OF BROILERS
“A CASE STUDY AT VVU TECHIMAN CAMPUS”
BY
GYARKO EMMANUEL
211AB01000013
(AGRIBUSINESS DEPARTMENT)
1. INTRODUCTION
2. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
3. LITERATURE REVIEW
4. MATERIALS AND METHODS
5. PROJECT WORKPLAN
6. PROJECT BUDGET
7. EXPECTED RETURNS
 Poultry is domesticated birds that are kept by human beings for the purpose of obtaining meat, eggs and
sometimes feathers. Some examples are; chicken, duck, turkey, guinea fowl, etc.
 Broiler chickens are grown for their meat. These chickens are the ones we purchase at the farms, cold
stores and fast food joints to enjoy.
 Birds (wild and domesticated) belong to a family called Phasianidae.
 Domesticated birds also belong to a sub family called Galliformis and have a scientific name of (Gallus
domesticus.)
 We have two different types of poultry and they are; local breeds and exotic breeds.

2.  The breeds that are raised commonly here are the white Cornish and the white Plymouth Rock.
 Broilers originated from USA and South America Australia
 Broilers can be produced throughout the year but they are mostly raised in the Christmas and other
festive seasons.
 Poultry meat and eggs are good source of vitamins and minerals.
 Broiler has the ability that can significantly contribute to the alleviation of malnutrition in Ghana, Africa
and the world at large.
 Human directly consumes poultry meat and eggs. Examples, Meat as curry, meatball, roast, toast and
others or with other food products like chicken chips, chicken rolls and others.
 According to (Amisah et al., 2009), cost of feed has been a major concern as this has always led to high
cost of production, and has not been a lucrative enterprise because apart from the high cost and
unavailability of the conventional feedstuffs, there is also competition with human beings, livestock and
poultry.
 To solve this problem, Animal nutritionist are searching for non-conventional feedstuffs which are
readily available and cheaper in order to cut down on the feed cost which constitute about 70% of the
total cost of production ( Reddy 1996)
 One of the solutions to the problem of high cost of feeding poultry (broilers) is the utilization of
unconventional feed resources, example; crop residues and agro-industrial by-products.
 Among the unconventional feed resources is the sorghum spent grain (SSG) locally known as pito mash
(PM). This is a by-product from sorghum grains used in the production of a local bear called pito in
Ghana.
 According to Fombad and Mafeni, pito mash has been included in broilers diet and has some positive
results but further attested that inclusion level of pito mash in broilers diet more than 10% resulted in
having adverse effect on both weight gain and growth performance as well as their blood parameters,
because it has a high crude fiber content and because poultry is monogastric and therefore cannot break
the B-link of high crude fiber(cellulose and semi-cellulose) of the pito mash
 Because of these limitations feed manufactures are looking forward to reduce the crude fibre content
before giving to the birds.
 Samuel Ndams (2008) observed that fermentation reduced crude fibre of pito mash and therefore stated
that it had a positive result when pito mash was included up to 20%.
 He attested that both growth performance and blood parameters were affected positively.
 Hence it does not have negative significant effect on their blood parameters.

3.  Some researchers treated the pito mash with alkali (plantain peels) before giving to the broilers from
0% to 15% inclusion levels and recorded no significant change in the growth (feed intake) and the
carcass analysis.
 GENERAL OBJECTIVES
 This study seeks to assess the hematological response of the broilers fed with alkali-treated pito mash
(SSG).
 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
 Estimate the effect of alkali-treated pito mash diet on intake and growth parameters of the birds, e.g.
feed intake, water consumption, and feed consumption efficiency in kilogram.
 Cost-benefit analysis will be carried out to establish the economic feasibility of the experimental diet.
 Hematological analysis will be conducted on the birds
 AVIAN BLOOD PARAMETERS
 AVIAN BLOOD PARAMETERS AND MEAT QUALITY
 THE USE OF SORGHUM SPENT GRAIN (SSG)
 THE USES OF SSG IN POULTRY INDUSTRY
 EEFECT OF SSG ON BROILER PERFORMANCE
 THE EFFECT OF REFERMENTED SSG ON BROILER’S PERFORMANCE
 According to (T.N. Fredrickson) Work on avian hematology was begun at Maine University, with a
view to adapting and developing quick, accurate and simple methods of blood examination.
 Blood parameters of avian(poultry) consist of ;

Hemoglobin (HB)

Red blood cell (RBC)

White blood cell (WBC)

Packed volume cell (PVC)

Mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH)

Mean corpuscular volume (MCV), etc.
 Hemoglobin and myoglobin are important factors in determining meat quality aspects such as color. (
R.W.K Ranen1999)
 The consumption of poultry meat and eggs has increased in this decade and this has resulted in increase
in the demand for poultry product and hence feed ingredients cost.

4.  Therefore there is great need for alternative feedstuffs, which are not competed for by human and can
be successfully included in poultry diets to replace the commonly used ingredients. ( Reddy 1996)
 According to Nelson (1984) 50% replacement of maize with PM and 5% palm oil supplementation in a
broiler starter diet supported satisfactory weight gain, feed consumption and efficiency of feed
conversion.
 Note: SSG (sorghum spent grain)
PM (pito mash)
 Lopez and Carmona (1981) evaluated PM at levels of 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40% in broiler diets and reported
insignificant differences in average weight gains and feed conversion with up to 20% inclusion level.
Feed intake and dressing percentage of birds were also not significantly affected up to this level.
 According to Nelson (1984) the inclusion level of PM at a rate more than 20% affected growth
performance, carcass quality and blood parameters negatively.
 Lopez and Carmona (1981) also attested that the inclusion level of PM more than 20% affect broiler
meat quality negatively
 As cited by Ndans,Samuel (2008) when SSG was refermented at the inclusion level of 10,20 and 30%,
weight gain and carcass quality was not adversely affected as well as blood parameters
 The following materials will be needed for the for the project
 Sorghum Spent Grains (SSG)
 Plantain Peel Ash Extract (PPAE)
 Broilers (day old chicks)
 Broiler feed (starter diet)
 Vaccines and drugs
 Poultry house
 Feeding trough
 Water trough
 Weighing scale
 Syringe and test tubes
 Disinfectant (quinecide)
 Four (4) different inclusion levels of alkaline-treated pito mash in broiler diet in a scattered arrangement
with 3 replication will be used for the experiment
 In all 240 birds would be used under deep litter system, with 20 birds per replicate, given 60 birds per
treatment.

5.  Broiler starter diet will be used to feed the broiler chicks in the first week.
 The birds will be moved to different cages after one week and be put under their various experimental
diets.
The treatments will be represented as follows;
1. 0% inclusion level will be represented as T1
2. 10% will be represented as T2
3. 20% will represented as T3
4. 30% will be represented as T4
NB:
These treatments will be arranged as T1, T2, T3 and T4 as shown in the next slide.
 The experiment would be conducted using four different types of diet which will be replicated three (3)
times.
 The treatments are as follows;
 0% no inclusion of alkaline treated pito mash
 10 % alkaline treated pito mash inclusion level
 20 % alkaline treated pito mash inclusion level
 30 % alkaline treated pito mash inclusion level
 The following data will be collected;
 The weight of the birds before giving them the experimental diet.
 Weekly weight gain
 Daily water intake
 Daily feed intake
 Mortality rate
 Live weight after the experiment
 Before termination of the experiment 2 birds from each replicate will be randomly selected for;
1. Blood sample test (hematology)
2. Dressing percentage

6. 3. Heart , liver and gizzard weight.
 The amount of blood I will take from each randomly selected bird will be at least 1.5ml.
 Tools to be used;
 The process or how;
 How it will look like;
The data collected on these parameters will be subjected to;
 Analysis of variance (ANOVA)
 The results will report on the Hematological response of the broilers fed with alkaline- treated Pito mash
inclusion diet and the control diet.
The following would be achieved after the research;
A. To get a broiler feed that is low in cost but not detrimental to their growth.
B. To find alkali- treated pito mash inclusion levels in diets with high intake level and high feed
conversion efficiency
C. To obtain percentage of alkali- treated pito mash that should be added to broiler feed for good
performance.
 The next slide is the budget for the propose project.
Estimation of returns;
 200 birds will be sold out of 240
 The least weight gain per bird after the 10 weeks is expected to be 1.5kg
 If 1kg= GHC 10
 Then 1.5 × 10= GHC 15
 Therefore 200 birds × GHC15=GHC 3,000
 Profit =income-cost production
GHC 3000 – GHC 2285= GHC 715.00
 (en.wikipedia.org /wiki /broiler). Origin of broilers
 http/ask question.com. Poultry def.