ISSN: 2471-9315
Ukaegbu-Obi KM, Ukwen CO and Amadi ANC
Four different commercial poultry feeds namely, Amo, Vital, Top and Animal care poultry feed brands, each consisting of starter, grower, layer and finisher categories respectively, obtained from their trade outlets in Umudike, Nigeria were examined for their microbiological and physicochemical qualities using standard microbiological and analytical methods. The fungal count was highest in Vital layer feed with 9.6 × 105 cfu/g, while the least count of 3.0 × 104 cfu/g was recorded in Animal care grower feed. Bacterial count was highest in Amo starter (2.70 × 107 cfu/g) and least in Amo layer (2.0 × 106 cfu/g). A total of twelve microorganisms were isolated. Fungal isolates include Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Fusarium spp, Penicillium spp and Rhizopus spp with Aspergillus flavus having the highest percentage occurrence of 25.4%. Bacterial isolates include Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp, Pseudomonas spp, Klebsiella spp, Streptococcus spp, and Listeria spp with Staphylococcus aureus having the highest percentage occurrence of 19.9%. Physicochemical analyses revealed the presence of moisture, ash, carbohydrate, crude fibre, crude fat and protein contents. The presence of microorganisms in poultry feeds could pose a threat to the poultry birds and humans, therefore the need for constant assessment of the safe quality of these feeds.