Effects of inclusion of fermented cafeteria food leftover with commercial feed on production performance of Sasso T₄₄dual-purpose chickens

Abstract

A feeding trial was conducted to evaluate and compare the effects of inclusion of fermented cafeteria food left-over (FCFL) in commercial ration on dry matter intake, growth performance, feed conversion ratio, carcass characteristics and bio-economics of production of Sasso T44 dual- purpose chickens. One hundred and eighty day-old unsexed broiler chicks were used for this experiment. Four treatment groups with three replicates, each having 15 animals per pen were employed. The experiment was conducted for 7 weeks after two weeks of adaptation period. Different levels of inclusion of FCFL (in percent) in concentrated commercial ration (T1: 0%; T2: 17%; T3: 34% and T4: 50%) were used in the four treatment groups. The experiment was arranged in a completely randomized design. Chicken Weight was taken at start and at weekly interval during the experiment. At the end of the experiment, 4 birds (2 males and 2 females) each were selected and sacrificed to evaluate carcass characteristics. To determine net return; partial budget analysis procedure was employed. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) and body weight gain were not significant (P>0.05) during starter, finisher, grower and the entire experimental period among treatments. Significant difference (P<0.05) was not observed among the carcass traits (slaughter wt., dressing percentage, eviscerated carcass, drumstick, thigh, breast meat, heart, liver, gizzard, skin, back, wing and neck). The highest net return was observed in T4 (6774.3) followed by T3 (6616.7), T2 (6495.7) and T1 (6343.5). The score of chicks’ sale to feed cost ratio was also increased from T1 to T4. This shows that as the inclusion level of FCFL in the ration increased, the feed cost decreased. Therefore, inclusion of FCFL up to 50% in broiler ration is economical.

Key words: Sasso T44, Cafeteria food leftover, Growth performance, Feed intake, Carcass traits