Inclusion of enzymes and eubiotics in sorghum based diet for broiler chicken production

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the response of broiler chickens fed sorghum-based diet (SBD) with inclusion of enzymes and eubiotics. Five  hundred 1-day old Ross broiler chicks were allotted to seven dietary treatments with three replicates and each having 24 birds, respectively. The design was a completely randomized design. Treatment 1 (T1) was maize- based diet; T2, SBD alone; T3, SBD with Ronozyme® ProAct enzyme; T4, SBD with Roxazyme® G2G enzyme; T5, SBD with Axtra® XAP 101 TPT enzyme, T6, SBD with Biostrong® 510 15% essential oil and T7, SBD with  Enviva® PRO 202 GT probiotics. The initial and final body weights, feed/gain ratio, cost/Kg, carcass and prime cuts weight and nutrient digestibility were determined. Results of the experiment indicated non-significant (P>0.05) differences in the final weight and weight gain of birds across all  treatment. However, broiler chicks in T1, T4, T5, T6 and T7 had the best feed/gain ratio (1.65, 1.65, 1.70, 1.68 and 1.70) which was significantly (P<0.05) different from birds placed on diet treatments T2 and T3 (1.83 and 1.73). The feed cost required to produce one kilogram of meat was lowest for T1 and T4 (185.79 and 188.48 N /Kg) followed by T3, T5 and T7 (198.79, 193.25 and 198.65 N /Kg) and highest for T2 and T6 (205.29 and  204.09 N /Kg). Carcass evaluation showed that dressed weight of T3, T4 and T5 compared (P>0.05) favorably with T1 while T2, T6 and T7 were similar. Nutrient digestibility of broiler birds showed nonsignificant (P>0.05) differences except for crude fibre. Economics of production showed that the inclusion of feed additives in SBD increased the net profit of broiler birds. It can be concluded that the use of enzymes and eubiotics improved the  performance and net profit of broiler chickens.

Keywords: Broilers, Sorghum, Enzymes, Eubiotics