All the basal ingredients used in the feed formulation were finely-ground and sieved to obtain a homogenous mixture and weighed out according to their respective formulations. Mineral and vitamin premixes were added to each diet.
Pre-gelatinised tapioca flour was used as the binder and the diets pelletized with a meat grinder fitted with a 2 mm die plate. The resulting pellets were oven-dried at 40 ◦C for 48 h.