High Fibre Diet Reduced the Energy Cost of Production and Abdominal Fat of Broiler Chickens

Abstract

High fibre diet might reduce feed cost of broilers but increase the meat quality. We investigated the meat quality and feed cost by the inclusion of high fibre in broiler chickens' diets. Two hundred and eighty-eight day-old Cobb 500 broiler chickens, (about 42 g each), were fed on the 6 treatments, each replicated 6 times, with 8 birds per replicate. The chicks were fed on commercial-types diets from 1-10 days (starter). Subsequently, they were offered grower (11-24 days) and finisher (25-35 days) diets, which differed in fibre and energy contents. The diets were similar in nutrient composition, formulated in line with Cobb requirements. The chicks were reared in cages in a climate-controlled room with ad libitum water and feed. Feed intake (FI), body weight gain (BWG), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were measured. At day 35, visceral organs, breast, thigh, drumstick and fat pad were collected and weighed. At the same day, one more bird was killed (after 4-hour fasting) through cervical dislocation and a subsample of the whole bird was taken after chopping for fat analyses. Birds on the high-fibre diets did not differ significantly in weight gain but were more efficient in nutrient utilization. High-fibre diets stimulated the development of the gastrointestinal tract, with heavier intestines (P < 0.006), and proventriculus (P < 0.026) at 24 days, and small intestine (P < 0.006) and liver (P < 0.020) at 35 days. Dietary fibre content significantly lowered (P < 0.002) abdominal fat pad, and increased (P < 0.010) breast meat yield. Feed cost was reduced due to a reduction in energy content in the grower ($0.54 vs 0.58 per bird) and finisher ($0.54 vs 0.57 per bird) phases. Low dietary energy combined with cheap high-fibre ingredients greatly reduced the costs of diets and reduce the carcass fat content.