Influence of feed form on growth performance, ileal nutrient digestibility, and energy utilisation in broiler starters fed a sorghum-based diet

M.R Abdollahi,V Ravindran,B Svihus

doi:10.1016/j.livsci.2014.04.002

M.R Abdollahi, V Ravindran + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2014.04.002

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Abstract

A broiler starter (1–21d) diet based on a finely ground red sorghum was used to develop 3 feed forms: (1) unprocessed mash, (2) pellets steam-conditioned at 70°C, and (3) re-ground pellets following steam-conditioning at 70°C. The influence of dietary treatments on the growth performance, coefficient of apparent ileal digestibility (CAID) of N, starch, fat, Ca, and P, and apparent metabolisable energy (AME) in broiler starters was evaluated. A total of 144 one-day-old male broilers (Ross 308) were individually weighed and allocated to 18 cages (8 broilers/cage), and cages were randomly assigned to 3 dietary treatments. Broilers fed the pelleted diet gained more (P<0.05) weight and had a greater (P<0.05) feed intake (FI) than those fed mash and re-ground pellet diets. Re-grinding the pellets resulted in similar weight gain and FI to the mash diet. Nitrogen digestibility tended (P=0.10) to be greater in broilers fed the mash diet compared to pellet and re-ground pellet diets. Pellet-feeding reduced (P<0.05) starch digestibility compared to the mash diet and re-ground pellet. Pellet feeding also reduced (P<0.05) CAID of fat compared to mash diet but re-grinding the pellets restored fat digestibility. Pelleting reduced (P<0.05) the CAID of Ca and re-grinding the pellets further decreased (P<0.05) Ca digestibility. Pelleting had no influence on the CAID of P, but re-grinding the pellets resulted in lower (P<0.05) P digestibility than that of the mash and pelleted diets. Feeding intact pellets reduced (P<0.05) the AME of the diet compared to the mash diet and the depression was maintained in re-ground pellets. Based on the greater nutrient intake of broilers offered intact pellets coupled with the lack of positive effect of pellet feeding on digestibility of nutrients, it can be suggested that an enhanced feed consumption was primarily responsible for the better performance of broilers fed sorghum-based pellets.

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