Comparative Effect of Feeding Maiwa and Pearl Millet as Dietary Energy Source for Broiler Chicken

Abstract

This study compared the effects of feeding broiler chickens, maiwa and pearl millet as dietary energy sources. The effectiveness, performance, and carcass features of broiler chickens given varying amounts of maiwa and pearl millet as dietary energy sources were evaluated in a feeding trial/experiment. The experiment used 200 day-old broiler chickens. The experiment was divided into two phases: starter and finisher. Five experimental meals containing 20 and 23% crude proteins were created for each phase. For T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5, five experimental diets were developed with different inclusion levels of 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% respectively. In a randomized completely block design (RCBD), each treatment was duplicated four times, with ten birds each replication. Feed and water were provided ad libitum from 2nd to the 9th week of age. The result of the experiment on percentage composition of the experimental diets indicated that crude protein and metabolizable energy are within the range adequate for raising broiler chickens. The daily feed intake values (53.80-57.05g; 120.30-124.35g; 82.79-85.35g) and the daily weight gain values (29.95-33.82g; 41.77-44.66g; 34.22-35.88g) obtained from the performance of broiler chickens revealed non-significant differences among the treatments in the three (3) phases. The dietary treatments had no effect on the carcass and visceral organ parameters of broiler chickens, with the exception of caecal weight and small intestine length, which differed significantly (P≤0.01), with values ranging from 0.41%-0.72% and 160.85-191.33cm, respectively. Thus, the study comes to the conclusion that broiler chickens can safely be fed maiwa and pearl millet along with other items as nutritional energy sources.