Use of wood ash in the treatment of high tannin sorghum for poultry feeding

Abstract

A study was conducted to investigate the effects of wood ash treatment on the nutritional value of high tannin sorghum. High tannin sorghum was either soaked in wood ash slurry and then germinated for four days or soaked in wood ash extract and germinated for 28 hours or germinated after soaking in water. Chemical composition of the grain thus treated was determined. The feeding value of the wood ash extract treated grain was evaluated in a three-week experiment where sorghum replaced maize in broiler starter diets. Treatment of high tannin sorghum with wood ash extract was effective in reducing the tannin level and did not lower the nutrient content of the grain, unlike the treatment that involved the use of wood ash slurry. There was no significant difference in feed intake between the maize based diet and the diet that contained wood ash extract treated sorghum. There was a significant improvement in growth rate of chicks that were fed on diets that contained treated sorghum. This was also reflected in the improvement of the ileal digestibility of the diets that contained treated grain. Treatment of high tannin sorghum with wood ash extract improves its nutritive value.


South African Journal of Animal Science Vol.34(2) 2004: 110-115