Preparation of mixed cassava pulp and Napier Pakchong grass
Fresh cassava pulp, obtained from the Flour Industry. Fresh Napier Pakchong grass aged 40-45 days after cutting was dried at 55-60 °C for 2 days. The dried Napier Pakchong grass was then ground to pass through a 1.0 mm mesh sieve. Proximate components of cassava pulp and dried Napier Pakchong were determined according to AOAC (1990). It was found that the combination of cassava pulp and dried Napier Pakchong at ratio 80:20 was the most suitable to be further investigated for use as feedstuff.
Animal and experimental design
A total of 40 ISA Brown laying hens, 34 weeks of age, were placed in individual battery cages. After a 4 days adaptation period, all hens were randomly allotted into five experimental diets (1 control and 4 mixed cassava pulp and Napier Pakchong grass diets at levels of 5, 10, 15 and 20%) to measure nutrient digestibility and retention for 10 days using CRD. All mixed cassava pulp and Napier Pakchong diets were added with fibrolytic enzymes to prevent the negative effect of high fiber content. Feed and water were provided ad libitum through out the experimental period.