Palm Kernel Cake as Substitute for Maize in Broiler Finisher Diet

Abstract

A 56 days feeding experiment was conducted using 48 day-old Arbor Acre chicks that were initially raised on a commercial starter for four weeks, to investigate the effect of feeding up to 30% of Palm Cake (PKC) diet on weight gain, organ weight and cost benefit in broiler finisher. On the 29 day, the birds were th weighed and randomly grouped into four. Each group had 12 birds per treatment. Four diets were formulated with diet 1 as the control while 2, 3 and 4 had increasing levels of PKC 0, 10, 20 and 30% in the finisher phase. At the end of the experiment, three birds per treatment were slaughtered to compare the internal organs such as the heart, liver, gizzard, spleen and lung. The results showed there was a significant difference (p<0.05) in the average daily gain in broilers fed 20% PKC diet than other treatments. No mortality was recorded during the experiment. Feed cost decreased with increasing levels of PKC in the diets. The feeding of PKC had no significant effect in the internal organ weights except for the gizzard in 20% PKC diet which was significantly heavier (p<0.05) than other treatments. It was concluded that 20% PKC could be incorporated in the broiler finisher diet without compromising their performance.