Effect of Using Raw and Treated Quinoa Seeds (Chenopodium Quinoa) in the Diet on the Productive Performance Characteristics of Broilers

Abstract

The experiment aimed to study the use of different proportions of raw and treated Chenopodium quinoa seeds by soaking in the diet in order to identify the effect on the productive performance characteristics of broilers of 42 days of age. A 336 sexed broilers (Ross 308) were distributed randomly at one-day old, with an average initial weight of 39 g/chick, divided into seven treatments, 48 chicks/treatment, each treatment included three replicates, 16 chicks/replicate (8 males and 8 females). The chicks were fed on the starter diet (1-14) days of age, the grower diet of (15-28) days of age, and finisher diet (29-42) days of age, supplemented with raw quinoa seeds and treated by soaking as the first treatment (T1) was a control treatment without any addition. (T2) added 0.5% raw quinoa seeds, (T3) added 1% raw quinoa seeds, (T4) added 1.5% raw quinoa seeds, (T5) added 0.5% quinoa seeds treated with soaking, (T6) added 1% quinoa seeds treated with soaking, (T7) added 1. 5% quinoa seeds treated with soaking. The results showed a significant superiority (P<0.05) in the production performance in the final body weight rate, the total weight gain, and the cumulative feed consumption for the treatments of using raw and treated quinoa seeds (T2, T4, T5, T6, and T7) compared to the control treatment. It is concluded from the current study that the raw and treated quinoa seeds used in the broiler diet, and by increasing the concentrations, improved the production performance. Besides, this improvement appears obviously at the level of 1.5% of the seeds treated by soaking.