PERFORMANCE OF BROILER CHICKENS FED DIETS CONTAINING VARYING LEVELS OF MILLET AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR MAIZE

Abstract

The effect of replacing maize with millet was evaluated using one hundred and sixty-eight (168) day old Anak broiler chicks allocated to four (4) dietary treatments. Millet was used to replace maize at 0, 50, 75 and 100% levels coded as diets 1,2,3 and 4 respectively. The experimental design was completely randomized design with three (3) replicates per diet and fourteen (14) birds per replicate. Feed and water were supplied ad libitum and the experiment lasted for eight (8) weeks. The results showed that at the starter phase the daily feed intake values of 85.67 and 93.0g on diets 4 and 2 respectively were significantly different (p<0.05) while there was no significant difference in the body weight gain. The values ranged from 20.70-24.20g in birds fed diets 1 and 4 respectively. The FCR (3.53) of broilers fed diets 4 (100% millet) was significantly (p<0.05) better than the values on other diets. The performance at the finisher phase showed a non significant (p>0.05) treatment effect for all parameters. The pooled performance showed broilers fed diet 4 (100% millet) recorded significantly higher daily feed intake (p<0.05) and weight gain compared to the other diets. All the carcass characteristics measured were not influenced by the dietary levels of millet. The cost per kg gain was lowest on diet 4 (#30). These findings showed that millet can replace maize at 100% with better results and at reduced cost.