Effect of various concentrations of pomegranate peel waste on the growth performance and nutrient digestibility of broilers
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Abstract
During present study one hundred-day old broiler chicks were purchased from commercial hatchery. After initial weight, chicks were randomly distributed into five treatments groups, each group consisting of 20 chicks. The chicks of group A were reared as control whereas, group B, C, D and E was fed on ration containing 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.00% of pomegranate peel waste/kg feed, respectively. Results indicates that significantly, maximum feed intake (3615.7g), water intake (6092.0 ml), live body weight (2258.3g) was recorded in group E. Significantly, better FCR was recorded in group E (1.39) and minimum FCR (1.96) was recorded in group A. Significantly, maximum carcass weight (1863.7g) was recorded in group E and minimum carcass weight (1492.3g) was recorded in group A. The liver weight, Spleen weight, Thymus weight, Bursa weight was non-significant. Significantly, maximum dry matter digestibility (81.51), fat digestibility (3.06), protein digestibility (23.64) was recorded in group E. Morbidity was higher in group A was (4%) and lower in group E (1%). The mortality was higher in group A was (3%) and lower in group E (1%). In conclusion, the study demonstrates that adding pomegranate peel waste at the rate of 1.00% /per kg broiler feed has significant and positive effect on feed intake, FCR, live body weight, carcass weight, dressing percentage, and digestibility for better broiler performance.
Keywords: Broilers; Digestibility; Growth performance; Pomegranate; Waste