Diomandé et al., 2008. Livest. Res. Rural Dev., 20 (12)

Snail meal (Achatina fulica) was assessed for its nutritive value in diets of broilers. The study was based upon 330 chicks of a day old which were fed on diets containing 1 to 10% of snail (Achatina fulica) meal, in substitution of fish meal. The levels of protein (62.4 vs. 58.2%), ash (22.7 vs. 20.0%), and calcium (7.7 vs. 7.0%) were higher in snail meal than in fish meal. Eleven diets whose snail meal content varied from 0 to 10% were fed over a period of eight weeks to the broilers. For the sensorial analysis, the thighs of 4 slaughtered chickens per cage were cooked in oil for 20 minutes. The tasting staff was composed of people chosen randomly in the commune of Adjame (Abidjan) with 10 men and 10 women. Growth rates in the starter phase showed a negative curvilinear response (R2=0.90) to increasing proportions of snail meal. Growth rates were maintained as snail meal replaced up to 30% of the fish meal followed by a steady decline up to 100% replacement of the fish meal. In the grower stage there was an indication (R2=0.44) of a slight decrease in growth rate as the snail meal was raised from 0 to 30% replacement of fish meal followed by an increase as snail meal replacement increased from 30 to 100% of fish meal. The sensorial analysis showed no consistent effect of the level of snailmeal on the taste of broiler thigh meat. It is concluded that snail meal (Achatina fulica) can be used as a protein source in broiler diets in Cote d'Ivoire.