Performance of broilers fed mash or pelleted diets containing different soybean meal particle sizes

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of different soybean meal particle sizes in pelleted or mash diets on broiler performance. A total of 1,440 male Cobb500 broilers, with 1 to 35 days of age, were evaluated. The experimental design was completely randomized, in a 2x4 factorial arrangement, consisting of two feed physical forms and four soybean meal particle sizes (625, 775, 1,053, and 1,406 μm), totaling eight treatments, with nine replicates of 20 birds each. Feed intake, weight gain, and feed conversion ratio were evaluated. There was a significant interaction between diet physical form and soybean meal particle size. From 1 to 21 days of age, the lowest feed intake and weight gain values were obtained with the mash diet containing 1,406 µm soybean meal particle size. From 1 to 35 days of age, the greatest weight gain is achieved when broilers are fed the pelleted diet with 1,406 µm soybean meal particle size.