Philippine E-Journals

Comparison between Sorghum-Based and Corn-Based Diets on the Production Performance of Broilers

Carmencita D. Mateo | Dainty Meryl C. Concimino | Jezie A. Acorda

Discipline: Veterinary Medicine, Animal Science

 

Abstract:

A total of 440 day-old male Arbor Acre broiler chicks were randomly allocated to four dietary treatments with 11 replicates per treatment at 10 birds per replicate pen. The composition of dietary treatments were as follows: 1) Treatment 1 - 100% corn; 2) Treatment 2 - 100% sorghum; c) Treatment 3 - 50% sorghum and 50% corn; and d) Treatment 4 -100% sorghum plus pigment. Two growth periods were observed,- starter period (1-21 days) and grower period (22-42 days), and the following parameters were determined: body weight gain, feed conversion, mortality and livability rate, carcass evaluation (carcass yield and weight) and economic analysis.

The results showed no significant differences in terms of liveweight, weight gain, feed consumption, carcass yield and weight, mortality and livability rate in sorghum- and corn-based diets. In feed conversion, however, a slight mean difference of 0.084 % was observed (P<0.05) in broilers fed with sorghum-based diet. All parameters indicated positive results although only the difference in FCR proved to be significant (P<0.05). This means that sorghum has a similar nutritive value to corn. It can replace corn as the principal source of energy totally or partially and it can be well utilized by broilers. Sorghum is the cheapest source of energy at the prevailing price in terms of feed cost. And the price of sorghum and other feed grains relative to the resulting meat produce influence the total amount of grain fed. Addition of pigment to the diet, however, increased feed cost.