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COMPARATIVE PERFORMANCE AND CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS OF BROILER CHICKENS FED GRADED LEVELS OF SORGHUM AND PEARL MILLET
Abstract
A feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the performance and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens fed graded levels of sorghum SK-5912 and pearl millet as dietary energy sources. Five experimental diets were formulated with sorghum SK-5912 replacing pearl millet at 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% in the diet and tagged as diets 1 (control), 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively, for both starter (23%CP) and finisher (20%CP) phases. Three hundred broiler chickens “Marshal Strains” were randomly allotted to the treatments with four replications of 15 birds per replicate in a completely randomized design (CRD). Feed and water were supplied adlibitum throughout the experimental period (8 weeks). At the end of the experiment eight birds per treatment were randomly selected for carcass and internal organs characteristics. Results showed that performance was not significantly affected by the dietary levels of sorghum SK-5912, pearl millet and their combinations. Similarly, most of the carcass and internal organs parameters measured were not influenced except for the caecal weight (0.42 – 0.74%; P<0.01) and small intestine length (151.88 – 194.63 cm; P<0.01) that were significantly affected. This study therefore, revealed that sorghum SK-5912, pearl millet and their combinations can be utilized as dietary energy sources without adverse effects on the growth performance and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens.
