Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
- Seyed Abdullah Hosseini 1
- Amir Hossein Alizadeh-Ghamsari 2
- Hosna Hahati 3
- Seyed Adel Moftakharzadeh 3
- Mohammad Ali Behroozilak 3
- Farhad Foroudi 4
- Mehdi Mojibi Meikolaei 5
1 Research professor, Department of Animal and Poultry Nutrition and Physiology, Animal Science Research Institute of Iran, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran
2 Associate professor, Animal Science Research Institute of Iran, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization, Karaj, Iran
3 Department of Animal and Poultry Nutrition and Physiology, Animal Science Research Institute of Iran, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran
4 Member of the Research and Development Group of Kourosh Livestock and Poultry Company, Tehran, Iran,
5 Member of the Research and Development Group of Kourosh Livestock and Poultry Company, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Objective: This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of stepwise inclusion of dehulled sunflower meal on performance traits, carcass characteristics, and intestinal morphology of broiler chickens.
Methods: A total of 1,500 one-day-old Ross 308 broiler chicks (mixed-sex, equal ratio) were used in a completely randomized design with ten treatments, five replicates, and 30 birds per replicate. The experimental treatments included the following: (1) a control group that received a corn–soybean meal–based diet without sunflower meal throughout the entire rearing period, and (2-10) groups that received increasing levels of dehulled sunflower meal in the starter, grower, and finisher phases, respectively, as follows: (2) 3, 6, and 9%; (3) 3, 6, and 12%; (4) 3, 6, and 15%; (5) 3, 9, and 9%; (6) 3, 9, and 12%; (7) 3, 9, and 15%; (8) 3, 12, and 12%; (9) 3, 12, and 15%; and (10) 3, 12, and 18%. Live body weight and feed intake were measured on days 10, 24, and 42. Mortality was recorded daily, and feed conversion ratio (FCR), livability percentage, and production index were calculated accordingly. At the end of the trial, feed cost per kilogram of live body weight was calculated for each experimental group. At 42 days of age, three birds from each experimental unit were slaughtered, and the empty carcass, breast, thighs, back and neck, abdominal fat, and organs including gizzard, proventriculus, bursa of Fabricius, gallbladder, liver, spleen, and heart were weighed, and their relative weights to live body weight were calculated. In addition, three-centimeter tissue samples were taken from the middle section of the jejunum of the slaughtered birds, and villus height, villus thickness, crypt depth, villus height-to-crypt depth ratio, number of goblet cells, epithelial layer thickness, and mean villus surface area were evaluated.
Results: The results showed that the stepwise inclusion of dehulled sunflower meal in the diet throughout the rearing period had no significant effect on body weight, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, production index, carcass characteristics, or intestinal morphology of broiler chickens. The feed cost per kilogram of live body weight was influenced by the experimental treatments, such that this parameter was lower in treatment groups 3 (3, 6, and 12%) and 7 (3, 9, and 15%) compared to the other treatments, showing a difference (P<0.05) from group 1 (control) and all other experimental treatments except treatments 4 (3, 6, and 15%) and 9 (3, 12, and 15%).
Conclusion: Given the absence of negative effects on performance and the lower feed cost per kilogram of live weight compared to soybean meal (about 445 Tomans), dietary inclusion of dehulled sunflower meal at 3%, 6%, and 12%, and at 3%, 9%, and 15% in the starter, grower, and finisher phases respectively, is economically recommended.
Keywords
)