Influence of dietary soya bean pomace on serum testosterone, reproductive trait development, growth performance and carcass quality characteristics of broiler roosters

Abstract

his study examines the effects of the use of agro by-product soya bean pomace to substitute some plant protein ingredients in the diet of male broilers on its serum testosterone, reproductive trait development, growth performance and carcass quality characteristics. 90 four weeks old male broilers were used in this study. Birds were allocated randomly into three treatment groups A (0 % soya bean pomace, soya bean meal), B (15 % soya bean pomace inclusion, 10 % soya bean meal) and C (25 % soya bean pomace, 0 % soya bean meal). Each group was distributed into 3 replicates with 10 birds per replicate. All the birds were fed for a period of twelve weeks. At the end of 12 weeks of feeding trial, the reproductive performance parameters, serum testosterone, growth performance and carcass quality characteristic were determined. The analysis of serum testosterone level showed that diet C had positive influence on the serum testosterone level which was not significantly different from the other two treatments, there were slight significant differences (p<0.05) in the reproductive performance parameters, their growth performance while carcass quality characteristics demonstrated no significant differences (p>0.05). Economic returns of the diet C had the least cost per weight gain. Diet C would be most economical to feed to animals. The study concluded that inclusion of soya bean pomace in rooster diets helped in their reproductive performance, enhancement of serum testosterone, growth performance as well as their carcass quality characteristics.

Keywords: Dietary substitution, Soya bean pomace, Serum testosterone, Reproductive trait development, Broiler roosters