Growth response of broiler chickens to finisher diets containing high amounts of wheat bran

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of including high amounts of wheat bran (WB) in finisher diets on growth performance and economy of gain of broiler chickens. The WB contained g kg-1 of dry matter, 894.3; crude protein, 193.5; ether extract, 42.1; crude fibre, 97.1; ash, 49.5; neutral detergent fibre, 503.8; acid detergent fibre, 167.2; hemicellulose, 336.6; Lignin, 29.3; starch, 197.0; and metabolizable energy of 6.72 MJ kg-1. In a feeding trial, four finisher diets containing maize, fishmeal, micro-ingredients and either 150, 250, 350 or 450 g of WB kg-1 diet and designated as dietary treatments WB150, WB250, WB350 and WB450, respectively, were fed ad libitum to 480 3-week-old commercial broiler chickens for 35 days. Birds had free access to water. As the dietary WB content was increased from 150 to 450 g kg-1, there was a significant (P< 0.01) increase in feed intake and a reduction in body weight gain and efficiency of feed utilization. The inclusion of high amounts of WB significantly influenced carcass dressing proportion and gizzard weight. However, there were neither health-related problems nor mortalities attributable to the amount of WB in the diet. There was a decrease in the cost of kg feed and feed cost kg-1 liveweight gain with increasing levels of dietary WB.



Ghana Jnl agric Sci. Vol.32(2) 1999: 213-219