Effect of feeding processed sorghum on carcass traits and organ growth in broilers.

Abstract

An experiment was carried out to examine the influence of reconstituted sorghum inclusion and enzyme supplementation on carcass traits and growth of digestive and immune organs in broilers. Substituting maize by sorghum or its processed forms in broiler diets did not exert any significant influence on per cent eviscerated yield. However, per cent feather loss was lower (P<0.01) in groups fed on diets containing 100% sorghum in comparison to control group. Among the carcass cut-up parts, breast yield was lower, whereas, wings weighed relatively more in 100% reconstituted sorghum group. The relative weights of digestive and other visceral organs remained unchanged due to different dietary treatments except gizzard yield, which was reduced (P<0.05) in reconstituted sorghum and enzyme supplemented groups. The relative caecal weight and length tended to be significantly higher in 100% reconstituted sorghum group compared to maize-soya based control diet. The relative pancreas weight was reduced (P<0.05) in birds with inclusion of sorghum. The sensory attributes like appearance, flavour, juiciness, tenderness, texture and overall acceptability score of freshly cooked meat, as judged by the panelists did not differ (P>0.05) due to inclusion of sorghum. The processed sorghum alone or supplemented with enzymes can be economically substituted in broiler diets replacing maize to an extent of 75 and 100% for optimum meat production in broiler chickens.