Haematological Characteristics of Clarias gariepinus (Buchell, 1822) Juveniles Fed with Poultry Hatchery Waste

A twelve week feeding trial was carried out in order to assess the effect of feeding poultry hatchery waste on haematological parameters of Clarias gariepinus juveniles as a bioindicator of their health status. A control experiment was set up with fish fed with 37% crude protein. Fish fed with the poultry hatchery waste showed a slight decrease in haematological values of Parked Cell Volume (PCV 0.29±0.01), Haemoglobin (HB,98.66 ±5.13), Red blood cell (RBC,1.83±0.05), Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV 161.33±9.291), Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin (MCH,58.83±2.96), Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin Concentration MCHC, (33.57±0.65), White Blood Cell (WBC,23.66±2.5) compared to the values of fish fed the control diet, PCV (0.37±0.01), HB (12.33±5.03), RBC (1.9±0.1), MCV (19.66±16.44), MCH (66.14±5.37), MCHC (33.74±1.016) and WBC (22.33±2.51). It is concluded that using poultry hatchery waste as supplementary feed on Clarias gariepinus showed a slight decrease in the haematological parameters but it has no negative impact on the health status of the specie. Therefore direct use of poultry hatchery waste as sole supplementary feed should be encouraged.