Adapted Quality Protein Maize in Broiler Diets Holds Nutritive and Financial Advantages

Abstract

Quality protein maize (QPM) can be beneficial for use in feeds as it was shown that substitution of standard maize (SM) with QPM can improve livestock performance and decrease costly dietary lysine supplementation and protein ingredients. Herein, nutritional and financial effects of QPM adapted to temperate climate in broiler diets were tested. Feeding experiment was performed on two groups of broilers – control (fed with SM) and treatment (fed with QPM). Duration of each feeding trial was 42 days, comprising three phases - starter (1-14), grower (15-35) and finisher (36-42). Diets for all growth phases were formulated based on the biochemical analysis of SM and QPM kernels. Body weight of the chickens was measured on days 1, 7, 14, 35 and 42. Feed intake (FI), body weight gain (BWG), average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were calculated at the end of each phase. Two trials were performed. In the first, SM was completely replaced with QPM in treatment group diets. As the results indicated better FCR in the treatment group for grower (1.49:1.54) and finisher (1.55:1.60) phases, in the second trial QPM was increased and soybean component decreased by 3%. That led to better results as FCR was even lower but in all three phases, confirming the results of the first trial and further confirming the effects of QPM on feed conversion. Moreover, significant financial reduction in feed was observed, as the price of soybean is usually two to four times higher than the price of maize.