Effects of heating of dietary rice bran on growth performance and serum cholesterol levels of broiler chicken

Abstract

Rice bran (RB) is a valuable feed resource for poultry. However, inclusion of high levels of RB in broiler diets reduces growth performance while increasing the excretion of nitrogen and phosphorus. Objective of this study was to determine whether adverse effects of high dietary RB levels on growth performance of broiler chicken could be mitigated by heating. Giving completely randomized design, in 2 x 4 factorial arrangement, 144 broiler chicks in 48 floor pens received one of the eight experimental diets ad libitum from day 27-47. Experimental factors were two types (heated and non heated) and four levels (0, 10, 20 or 30%) of dietary RB. RB was heated at 800 C for three hours. All diets were isocaloric and isoprotein. Serum cholesterol contents and latency-to-lie (LTL) of eight randomly selected birds from each treatment were determined on day 44 and 46, respectively. Internal organ weights and tibia ash contents of eight randomly selected birds from each treatment were determined on day 47. Heating of RB had no significant (P>0.05) effect on any of the parameters measured. Growth performance parameters such as live weight on day 47, weight gain from day 27-47, feed conversion ratio (FCR) and the performance index of the birds fed RB free control diet were significantly better than those fed 20 or 30% RB. Internal organ weights, serum cholesterol contents, tibia ash contents and LTL were not affected either by the type or the level of rice bran or their interactions. It was concluded that heating of RB at 800 C for three hours does not mitigate the negative effects of high dietary RB inclusion levels on growth performance of broiler chicken. The Journal of Agricultural Sciences, vol.10, No 3, September 2015, pp.151-157