Use of Whole Pearl Millet in Broiler Diets

Abstract

Previous research indicates that performance and carcass yields of broilers fed diets containing up to 50% ground pearl millet were equivalent or better than those of broilers fed typical cornsoybean diets. As production of new cultivars of pearl millet increases, availability of grain may be limited and seasonal. Therefore, inclusion of lower levels of millet as whole seeds in broiler diets may be more suitable. To determine the feasibility of including whole millet seeds in broiler diets, 3 experiments were conducted. In 2 battery studies broilers were fed diets containing 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20% whole millet. Disappearance of whole millet was greater than 95% for all treatments as determined by the general absence of millet seed in the excreta. Performance of broilers from 1 to 15 d was unaffected by the inclusion of whole millet in the diets, but gizzard size increased in birds fed diets containing 10% or more pearl millet. In a final experiment the performance and carcass yields of broilers fed diets containing 5 or 10% whole millet from 1 to 42 d of age were equivalent to those fed typical corn-soybean meal diets. These results indicate that whole seeds of millet can be successfully incorporated into broiler diets without compromising bird performance.