NUTRITIONAL AND ECONOMICAL IMPACT OF USING SUPER STARTER DIETS IN FEEDING BROILER CHICKENS

Abstract

n experiment was conducted to study the effect of feeding recommended (23%, Diet1) or high (25%, super starter, Diet2) crude protein in starter diets on productive performance, carcass characteristics and economicalefficiency of Hubbard broiler chickens. A total of 225, day old Hubbard broiler male chicks were randomly distributed into 5 treatments at (1-35) days of age, each with three replicates of 15 birds each. The five treatments were: T1) Control group, chicks fed (Diet1) ad-libitum the other treatments from T2 till T5, chicks were fed (Diet2)at different quantities being 125g, 250g, 375g and 500g/chick, respectively followed by (Diet1) to the end of starter period (14 days of age). During grower and finisher periods, all chicks were fed recommended diets at these phases. At the end of experiment at 35 days of age, 4 broilers chicken per treatment were slaughtered and evaluated for carcass traits. The results indicate that: Body weight, body weight gain and feed intake were linearly increased, whereas feed conversion ratio decreased as super starter diet increased, during overall period (1-35 days of age). The best values of body weight gain, feed conversion ratio, protein and energy conversion ratio were observed for chickens fed 500g super starter diet compared with other dietary treatments. In most cases differences between treatments were significant (P≤0.01). Carcass characteristics of chicks fed super starter diet, added at different levels had no effects on carcass characteristics. The best economical efficiency value were demonstrated when broiler chickens fed (500g Diet2/chick) super starter diet and the values was 33.09% more when compared to that of chicks fed control diets. In conclusion, feeding broiler chickens super starter diet at level of (500g/chick) support and enhance productive performance and economical efficiency.