Effect of vegetable wastage and energy in ostrich chick diet on performance and hematology.

This study evaluated the effects of different levels of dietary vegetable wastage and energy on ostrich chick performance and hematology. Twenty-four ostrich chicks (blue and black African breed) were allocated to eight treatments. The diet in treatments T1 to T4 had 2,500 kcal/kg of metabolizable energy, while treatments T5 to T8 had 2,700 kcal/kg. Each treatment had 0, 10, 20, and 30% of vegetable wastage. Vegetable wastage included parsley (Petroselinum crispum, 51.3 %), cress (Lepidium sativum, 15.0%), spinach (Spinacia oleracea, 15.0%), wild leek (Allium ampeloprasum, 14.0%), fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum, 2.5%), and basil (Ocimum basilicum, 2.2 %). The body weight gain and food intake were assessed weekly. Blood was analyzed for total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterols, LDL/HDL, ratio and alkaline phosphatase. The highest level of weight was seen in the second treatment (2,500 kcal/kg dietary energy and 10% dietary wastage). The hematological parameters were different depending on the treatment used. The lowest level of total cholesterol was observed in eighth treatment (2,700 kcal/kg dietary energy and 30% dietary wastage), while the lowest level of triglycerides was in fourth treatment (2,500 kcal/kg dietary energy and 30 % of wastage). The level of alkaline phosphatise was the lowest in seventh treatment (2,700 kcal/kg dietary energy and 20% wastages). The energy level had no effect (P < 0.05) on feed intake, weight gain, and feed efficiency for each week and for all experimental period. The level of vegetable wastage showed effect (P = 0.033) on feed intake, but the increase of this level showed depressive effect on the feed intake. This is the first report on the performance and blood parameters of commercial ostrich chicks fed diets differing in vegetable wastage. Further studies are needed to confirm these results.