Effect of feeding corn cob meal on the growth, nutrient digestibility and organ characteristics of finisher broilers

Abstract

One hundred and twenty (120) five weeks old Anak broiler finisher birds were used to study the effect of corn cob meal on growth performance, nutrient digestibility and organ weight characteristics. The birds were divided into 4 treatment groups of 30 birds each and further replicated thrice (10 birds per replicate). Four finisher diets were formulated with 0, 5, 10 and 15% corn cob meal and fed to the birds in a completely randomized design (CRD). The results showed significant differences (p<0.05) in final body weight and average daily weight gain of the broilers. However, the feed intake and feed conversion ratio were similar (p>0.05) between treatments. The organ weights (Liver, heart and gizzard) did not differ significantly (p>0.05) between the treatment groups. Nutrient digestibility results showed that crude protein and neutral ether extract differed significantly (p<0.05) between treatments, while the dry matter and crude fiber were similar (p>0.05) between treatments. The results of this study suggest that feeding 5% corn cob meal diet was not detrimental to the performance of broilers at the finisher level.

Keywords: Poultry, nutrient digestibility, corn cob, broilers, performance, organs