The Effects of Replacing Groundnut Cake with Urea- Treated and Fermented Brewer’s Dried Grains on Nutrient’s Digestibility, Retention and Carcass Characteristics on Broiler Finishers

Abstract

The effects of replacing groundnut cake(GNC) with urea-treated and fermented brewer's dried grains (BDG) in broiler finisher diets were investigated. urea-treated and fermented BDG was used to replace GDC at 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% levels in broiler finisher diets. Diets were formulated to be isonitrogenous and isocaloric to provide 20% crude protein and 3000 kcal/kg metabolizable energy. One hundred and ninety five thirty day old broiler chicks of Anak breed (Anak 2000 strain) were randomly allocated to five equal dietart treatments of 13 chicks per replicate and 39 chicks per treatmentand fed ad libitum in rearing cages. At the end of the 8^th week, 9 broilers per treatment (3 birds per replicate) were randomly selected from the five treatment groups for metabolic study. At 8 weeks, two birds per replicate were weighed and slaughtered for carcass measurement. Nutrient digestibililty and retention were significantly (P<0.05) influenced by urea-treated and fermented BDG incorporation in the diets. Nitrogen retention values of 63.80±0.32 and 62.15±0.39% for the control and 25% replacement for the levels  of 50, 75 and 100%. Fat retention values of 97.71±0.39 and 92.49±0.66% for 75 and 100% replacement levels (P<0.05) were significantly higher than values of 53.37±2.72, 52.74±1.72, 42.54±2.37 and 42.75±2.67% for 25, 50, 75 and 100% replacement levels. Carcass quality parameters and organ weights were not significantly (P>0.05) different in all treatment groups. Mortality level (5-7%) was normal and evenly spread across all treatment groups. Results indicate that ureat-treated and fermented BDG can completely replace GNC as a plant protein source in broiler finisher diets.