Growth response, nutrient digestibility and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens fed dried kitchen waste meal as a partial replacement for corn

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of dry kitchen waste meal (KW) as a partial replacement for maize on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens. A total 160 broiler chicks were used for the study. The broiler chicks were randomly assigned to four dietary treatment groups T1, T2, T3 and T4 of 40 birds of each treatment with 10 birds per replicate in a completely randomized design (CRD). The study was lasted for six weeks. Four experimental diets were formulated with KW replacing maize at levels of 0%, 10%, 20% and 30% representing T1, T2, T3 and T4 respectively for both starter and finisher diets. The results showed that daily and total feed intake showed significant difference among treatment groups. Broilers fed 20% KW showed highest average daily feed intake while those fed 30% KW recorded the least. Nutrients digestibility parameters such as ash and crude fiber were significantly different across treatments. Therefore, KW can replace up to 20% of maize in broilers diet without any negative effect on feed intake and will be suitable for feeding chickens.