Effects of Date Seed Flour on Broiler Chickens Growth Performance, Apparent Digestibility of Protein, and Apparent Metabolizable Energy

Abstract

The use of agricultural by-products as alternative feed ingredients is recommended to reduce production costs and maximize income. This study aimed to determine the effects of added date seed flour on broiler chickens’ growth performance, protein digestibility, and metabolic energy. A total of 200 Lohmann MB-202 day-old chicks were randomly allocated to 5 treatments and 4 replication with 10 broiler chickens per cage. The treatments used in the current research included control without the addition of date seed flour (T0), basal feed + 2.5% date seed flour (T1), basal feed + 5.0% date seed flour (T2), basal feed + 7.5% date seed flour (T3), basal feed + 10% date seed flour (T4). The investigated parameters were growth performance, apparent digestibility of protein, and apparent metabolizable energy-nitrogen (AMEn). The result showed that adding date seed flour significantly affected final body weight, apparent digestibility of protein, and AMEn. In contrast, the date seed flour was no significant effect on the feed intake feed conversion ratio and income over feed cost. In conclusion, the addition of 10% date seed flour successfully increases final body weight, apparent digestibility of protein, and AMEn without any adverse effect on the broiler chickens.