Effect of Replacing Dietary Corn by Sorghum on The Growth Performance, Shank Skin Pigmentation, Carcass Traits, Caecal Microflora and Nutrient Digestibility of Broiler Chickens

Abstract

Objective: A six weeks trial was conducted to investigate the effect of using different levels of grain sorghum in the broiler chicken diets as a replacement for corn on the growth performance, shank skin pigmentation score, carcass traits, caecal microflora and nutrient digestibility. Materials and Methods: Isocaloric/isonitrogenous diets were formulated where sorghum replaced corn at rates of 0% (control), 10, 25, 50 and 100% making 5 dietary treatments with 5 replicate pens per treatment. A total of 250-day-old-chicks (Cobb500) were randomly allocated into 25 pens with 10 birds per pen. Results: The obtained results revealed no significant differences in the body weight (BW), average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) when sorghum replaced corn at levels up to 50%. The ADG was decreased and the FCR was increased when sorghum replaced corn at 100%. The average daily feed intake was not impacted by sorghum inclusion. The measured carcass traits and caecal microflora were not impacted by sorghum inclusion. The shank skin pigmentation score was significantly decreased by sorghum inclusion at 50-100%. The protein digestibility was significantly decreased when sorghum inclusion replaced corn at 100%. Conclusion: It can be concluded that sorghum is a good partial alternative for corn at levels up to 50% without negative impacts on the broiler chicken productivity.

Sorghum, millet and cassava as alternative dietary energy sources for sustainable quail production – A review

“…A complete substitution of maize with sorghum did not negatively affect the growth traits and efficiency of diet utilization in quails (Masenya et al, 2021). Similarly, complete substitution of maize with low-tannin sorghum had no negative effect on quail and broiler growth traits, gut development, and carcass yield (Farahat et al, 2020).…”

“…Millet is a valuable energy source because it has high metabolizable energy (2900 kcal/kg ME), which can be compared favorably to maize (3330 kcal/kg ME) (Farahat et al, 2020). Millets have up to 40% concentration of methionine and lysine than maize (Liu et al, 2021).…”

Triticale: A General Overview of Its Use in Poultry Production

“…This is due to both secondary ingredients of industrial processing and non-traditional feeds [16,19]. Alongside these conventional components, new cereal crops have appeared in poultry diets [20][21][22][23], such as sorghum and triticale (× Triticosecale Wittmack) (Figure 1). The latter is a promising crop and, with its rational use, can be a valuable compound feed ingredient and successfully partially replace the cereal crops traditionally used [17,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31].…”

“…Alongside these conventional components, new cereal crops have appeared in poultry diets [20][21][22][23], such as sorghum and triticale (× Triticosecale Wittmack) (Figure 1). The latter is a promising crop and, with its rational use, can be a valuable compound feed ingredient and successfully partially replace the cereal crops traditionally used [17,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. This becomes especially important in connection with the growing share of cereals that will be used for the production of biofuels, i.e., ethanol, biodiesel, and solid fuel pellets (e.g., [32][33][34][35]).…”

Coloração da gema e análise sensorial de ovos de codornas europeias (Coturnix coturnix coturnix) alimentadas com ração à base de sorgo com adição de farelo de urucum (Bixa orellana L.)

“…In this context, sorghum is considered a promising ingredient, as it is a good source of energy to replace corn in poultry feed with nutritional characteristics similar to those of corn (MASENYA et al 2021). However, sorghum contains reduced amounts of the xanthophyll pigment compared to corn, which provides the yellow color for egg yolk pigmentation (FARAHAT et al 2020).…”