BODY TEMPERATURE AND BLOOD INDICES OF GROWING PIGS FED UNPEELED CASSAVA ROOT MEAL-BASED DIET: FARMERS’ PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The study investigated the body temperature and blood indices of growing pigs fed a unpeeled cassava root meal-based diet from the farmers’ perspective. Eighteen crossbred (Large White x Hampshire) pigs with an average body weight of 20.30±0.30 kg were used for the experiment and arranged in a completely randomised design. Three experimental diets: control – T1 (100% maize-based), 50% and 100% replacement of maize with unpeeled cassava root meal-based diets were formulated and designated as T2 and T3, respectively, and were fed to the animals at 5% of their body weight. The body temperature measurement showed that rectal temperature had a direct relationship with ambient temperature. Dietary treatments had a significant effect (p<0.05) on the rectal temperature of growing pigs measured in the morning and evening. Also, dietary treatments influenced the rectal and scrotal temperatures of growing pigs. Pigs fed diet T1 had the highest rectal and scrotal temperatures (38.74°C and 33.80°C), while those fed diet T3 had the lowest values (38.10°C and 29.75°C), respectively. There was a significant increase (p<0.05) in the haemoglobin counts of the pigs fed the test diets. The white blood cell counts decreased significantly (p<0.05) across treatment groups from pigs fed control diet (T1, 11.20 x10⁹/L) to those fed unpeeled cassava root meal-based diets (T2, 10.50 x10⁹/L and T3, 10.09 x10⁹/L), respectively. Serum parameters (urea N, total protein, and cholesterol) decreased significantly (p<0.05) across treatment groups from pigs fed the control to those fed the UCRM diets. The majority (97.7% male and 88.6% female) of the pig farmers identified friends/fellow farmers and family members as the major sources of information on alternative feedstuffs, while interaction with extension agents was poor (11.1% male and 38.0% female) among farmers. It was concluded that sundried unpeeled cassava root meal can be incorporated into the diets of growing pigs without any deleterious effect on the body temperature and blood indices of pigs, but its dissemination to farmers could be hindered considerably if the existing weak research-extension-farmer linkage persists.