Abstract 607

Fagoonee,I

School of Agriculture, Univ. Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius.

Tropical-VeterinaryJournal. 1983, 1: 1, 91-96; 12 ref.

Chickens of different ages were given a diet of maize 51, wheat bran 15, groundnut oilmeal 14, fish meal 10, pollard 4, meat-and-bone meal 4, minerals and vitamins 2%, without dried and ground spent silkworm pupae (SWP) or with half or all of the fish meal replaced by SWP. It is concluded that total replacement of fish meal had an adverse effect on growth performance but 50% replacement had no adverse effect. Chicken performance seemed to be correlated with levels of the pupal hormone alpha-ecdysone, which in turn depended on age of pupae. Other components of silkworm pupae which may be related to their effect on growth of poultry are discussed, especially proximate constituents, amino acid composition and haemolymph proteins.