Response of growing snails ( Archachatina marginata ) to diets containing quality protein maize

The study was designed to determine the effects of inclusion of quality protein maize (QPM) as substitute for normal maize in the diet of growing snails on feed intake, weight gain and feed efficiency, shell growth, and carcass composition. A total of one hundred and twenty growing snails of relatively the same size were randomly allotted to 3 dietary treatments and each treatment was replicated 4 times with 10 snails per replicate. The experimental design was completely randomized design. Three diets were formulated to contain 3 different types of maize in equal proportion. Diet 1 (T 1 ) which contained the normal maize (TZBP), Diet 2 (T 2 ) contained QPM (ART/98/SW5/OB) while Diet 3 (T 1 ) contained QPM (ART/98/SW6/OB). There was significant difference (P 0.05) in offal/live weight (%) and shell/live weight (%) of the snails in all the treatments. The results of chemical composition of the foot (fleshy part) show that the crude protein of the meat was relatively similar across the treatments (P>0.05). Based on the present results of the weight gain, feed efficiency, dressing percentage and chemical composition of the meat, quality protein maize is nutritionally efficient and better than normal maize in the diet of growing snails. Key words : Dressing percentage, feed utilization, quality protein maize, shell growth, snails