The Effects of a Plant Steroid on Body Weight and Feed Efficiency of Broilers

Abstract

In a study with fattening lambs and steers, Hale et al. (1961) reported the beneficial effects on growth rate and feed efficiency of certain non-estrogenic steroidal sapogenins. Smilagenin, isolated from Agave lecheguilla, gave the most consistent results in lambs when fed at 8 gm. per ton. In steers, 20 mg. of smilagenin per day was equal in growth effects to 10 mg. per day of stilbesterol. The present report evaluated the effects of a commercially available plant steroid, tigogenin, on the growth rate and feed efficiency of broilers. Four-week growth and feed consumption tests were conducted. One-day-old Vantress × White Rock cockerels were fed the basal poultry mash (Table 1) for one week prior to selection for the experiment. Ten birds were randomly assigned per pen in a special poultry battery arranged in five tiers of four pens each, for a total of 200 chicks. Each treatment…