Effect of alkaline treated soybean meal on the performance, protein and energy utilization of starter broilers

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of alkaline treated soybean seeds on the performance, protein and energy efficiency of starter broilers. Soybean seeds were divided into 4 batches. The first batch was autoclaved at 100°C and the other batches soaked in aqueous solution of 3% concentration of sodium chloride (NaCl), trona (Na₂CO₄NaHCO₃.2H₂O) and alum (Al₂(SO₄)₂.24H₂O) respectively for 24 hours, air-dried and milled. These soybean preparations were used in formulating four treatment diets as follows; autoclaved soybeans (T₁), NaCl treated soybean (T₂), trona treated soybean (T₃) and alum treated soybean (T4). The diet containing the autoclaved soybean (T₁) served as the control. The soybean meals were included at the level of 33.82% for each diet and fed to 180 day-old Sussex broiler chicks randomly divided into 45 birds per diet and replicated in 3 groups of 15 birds per group. Records of average weight and feed intake were taken over a period of 28 days and from these, values for body weight gain, feed to gain ratio, protein efficiency ratio (PER) and energy efficiency were calculated. The results indicated that soaking soybean in alkaline salts solution slightly reduced dry matter (DM), crude fiber (CF), nitrogen free extract (NFE) and gross energy (GE) while ether extract (EE) and ash were lower in the control meal. Birds fed NaCl and trona treated soybean had significantly lower (p<0.05) final body weights and weights gain compared to the birds fed alum treated soybean, the final body weight of the control birds and those fed alum treated soybean was similar. The control and alum treated soybeans equally produced broilers with superior feed conversion ratio than the NaCl and trona treated soybeans. Alum and trona treated soybean broilers had significantly superior protein efficiency ratio (PER) than the ones fed the control and NaCl treated soybean diets (p<0.05). Starter broilers fed alkaline treated soybean diets had better energy efficiency than the control birds. Alkaline treatment of soybean seeds reduced the cost per kilogram of feed relative to the control feed with alum treatment giving significantly higher values than the other alkaline treatments. These results indicate that alum and trona treatment of soybean seeds give better performance, protein and energy efficiency in starter broilers

Keywords: soybean, broiler, alkaline salts, performance, protein efficiency, energy utilization

Animal Production Research Advances Vol. 1(2) 2005: 64-69