Growth performance of broilers fed sugarcane press residue incorporated diets.

Abstract

To assess the effect of inclusion of sun-dried sugarcane press residue (SPR) at different levels on the growth performance and carcass characteristics of broilers, day-old straight-run commercial broiler chicks (n=360) were assigned to twelve dietary treatments. Three iso-nitorgenous and iso-caloric experimental diets containing 0, 5 and 10 per cent SPR replacing the relevant organic nutrients and mineral sources were formulated. Further, each diet was fortified with supplements viz., lipid utilizing agents (lipase 0.2 g + soy lecithin @ 2g/kg) or NSP degrading enzymes @ 0.4g /kg or together to result in another 8 test diets. Each diet prepared for starter (0-14 days), grower (15-28 days) and finisher (29-42days) phases was offered to triplicate groups of 10 chicks each. The results revealed a significantly (P<0.01) lower body weight gain during all the phases and cumulatively, less feed consumption during starter phase and poor feed conversion ratio during starter and finisher phase with the incremental level of SPR. The net returns, performance index and economic index scores were significantly (P<0.05) lower at higher level of SPR inclusion. The main factor, SPR level (0, 5 and 10%), showed significant (P < 0.01) differences for all the growth performance parameters while the biotechnological supplements showed non-significant differences among different groups. The inclusion of SPR beyond 5 per cent in broiler diets is not economically feasible and none of the biotechnological approaches used in this study proved to be effective in improving the nutritive value of SPR.