Thesis (M. Tech.(Agriculture: Animal Production)) - Central University of technology, Free State, 2012 / A 42-day feeding trial involving 180 day old broiler chicks was carried out at Glen Agric Institute ARC poultry section to study the effects of whole hatchery waste meal (WHWM) as an alternative in broiler diets. In this study whole hatchery waste meal (WHHW) replaced fish meal (FM), protein for protein, in broiler diets at 0, 10, 20, and 30% levels. One hundred and eighty broiler chickens were grouped, 45 birds per treatment which were further replicated 3 times (15 birds per replicate) in a completely randomized design. Feed and water supply were offered to birds ad libitum while standard management practices were meticulously adopted. Samples of the two test ingredients were sent to a lab for chemical analysis and the results indicated that FM had higher content of crude protein (73.18%) while that of WHWM was 4226. The calcium phosphorus ratio was 16.6:1 for WHWM as against 1.5:1 in the FM. The results also indicated a higher content of Ash% and Ether extract for WHWM (18.12) and (23.94) respectively. The higher ash content could be due to the high content of eggshell at the time of processing. At the end of the feeding trial broiler performance, blood, carcass characteristics and the economic benefit of using WHWM in broiler diets were determined. Blood and meat samples were collected and sent to the pathology laboratory at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein for hematological and meat characteristics analysis. Results for broiler performance showed that broilers fed diet 2 had highest values for feed intake (118.25g/bird/day), weight gain (50.16g/bird/day) and daily protein intake (29.08g/bird/day) while those fed with diet 3 were superior in the efficiency of feed conversion (2.31). The highest value of abdominal fat 1.12% was observed in birds fed diet 2. The highest live mass was observed in birds fed diets containing no WHWM (2.83), while non significant difference were observed in live mass of birds fed diet 1, 3 and 4. Broilers fed control diet had highest mean values for eviscerated weight (2.20kg) and dressing percentage (77.86%). Blood samples were sent for analysis of White blood cells (WBC), Red blood cells (RBC) and Haemoglobin (HGB), Hematogrit (HCT), Mean corpuscular volume (MCV), Mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) and Mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC). The results showed marginal variations in blood parameters. White blood cell counts were higher for birds fed control diet (519.59 x 103/1) than those fed WHWM (484.93 X 103/1). Non significant differences (P > 0.05) were observed on the HGB of all treatment groups including the control group. RBC counts of T1-T3 were not significantly different from each other but statistically significantly different from T4 (30% WHWM). The highest value of 2.67 106/ mm3 was observed in birds fed a higher level of WHWM. High RBC and HGB counts in the birds fed WHWM are an indicative of higher oxygen carrying capacity. The HCT and MCH results showed nonsignificant differences between T1, T3 and T4, except T2 which was significantly different from the other treatment groups. The MCV values for T1-T4 were 132.58, 126.47, 129.15 and 128.15 10'15L respectively. The highest and lowest values were recorded on T1 and T2 respectively. The feed costs decreased with an increase in the level of WHWM in broiler diets. The lowest feed cost/kg weight gain of R8.69 recorded for broilers fed on diet three. This agrees with several studies which documented the use of hatching waste in poultry diet as means of reducing feed cost (Babiker et al 1991; Abiola, 1999; Abiola, 2000; Abiola and Onunkwor 2004). It can be concluded that 10% of FM can be replaced with WHWM in broiler diets without adverse effects on growth, hematological and carcass traits.