THE USE OF GRADED LEVELS OF SUNFLOWER MEAL IN GROWING PULLET DIETS | ||
| Journal of Animal and Poultry Production | ||
| Article 5, Volume 26, Issue 11, November 2001, Pages 6723-6734 PDF (583.29 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/jappmu.2001.258145 | ||
| Authors | ||
| M. H. Rabie,1; M. A. A. Hussein2; Kh. El. Sherif1; M. G. Kassem2; A. M. Abbas2 | ||
| 1Dept. Poultry Prod., Faculty of Agric., Mansoura University. | ||
| 2Anim. Prod. Res. Institute, Agric. Res. Center, Ministry of Agric., Dokki, Giza. | ||
| Abstract | ||
| This study was carried out to investigate the effects of feeding graded levels of sunflower meal (SFM) on the performance of Mamourah pullets during the growing period. Three hundred 11-week-old female chickens were randomly distributed into five experimental groups; each with three equal replications. The birds were housed, under a 14-hr daily lighting program, in floor pens, equipped with feeders and waterers and located at an open-sided house. Each floor pen contained 20 pullets and served as a replicate group. Five iso-nitrogenous (14% crude protein) and iso-energetic (metabolizable energy of about 2800 kcal/kg) experimental diets containing graded levels of sunflower meal (0.00, 5.75, 11.50, 17.25 and 23.00% of the diet) were formulated and used. The birds were fed the respective experimental diets up to 21 weeks of age. Feed and water were provided ad libitum. The performance was assessed by body weight, body weight gain, mortality rate, feed intake and feed conversion, as well as feed cost per pullet. Digestibilities of nutrients of the experimental diets were determined using adult cockerels. Carcass yield and other slaughter traits were also determined. In addition, some blood constituents (serum glucose, total protein, total lipids and cholesterol as well as activities of serum transaminases; AST and ALT) were measured. The statistical analyses of the data detected no significant differences among treatments in all studied criteria, with the exception of abdominal fat contents. Dietary inclusion of SFM at levels of 17.25 and 23.00% resulted in a significant increase (P£0.05) in abdominal fat contents of 21-week-old Mamourah pullets compared with their control counterparts. As long as the performance, feeding cost and mortality rate were put into consideration, it can be concluded that growing pullets could utilize dietary sunflower meal up to 23% of the diet (100% in place of soybean meal) as economically as soybean meal without any detrimental effects on their health status or growth performance. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Sunflower meal; pullets; growth performance; nutrient digestibility; carcass yield; blood parameters | ||
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