Effect of Different Levels of Blood Meal on Broiler Performance During Two Phases of Growth

International Journal of Poultry Science, 2007
Abstract - The study was conducted to investigate the effect of blood meal in broiler diets during starter (0-4 weeks) and finisher (5-6th week) phases of growth. Fresh blood was boiled at 100°C for 45 min and then dried in an hot air oven at 55°C for 6 days and ground into meal. The chemical composition of the dried blood meal was 92% dry matter, 80% crude protein, 8.5% total ash, 1.2% ether extract, 1.3% crude fibre, 9% nitrogen free extract, 0.28% calcium, 0.25% phosphorus, 1.98% sodium chloride and 2850 Kcal kg^-1 metabolizable energy. Amino acid profile revealed that sufficient quantity of almost all essential amino acids was present in blood meal. Chemical score of the blood meal was 13. Isoleucine was the Ist limiting amino acid and methionine was the 2nd limiting amino acid. Three hundred, day-old broiler chicks were reared in deep litter house system using completely randomized design. Five different isonitrogenous and isocaloric experimental mash diets were prepared with five levels 0, 3, 4, 5 and 6% of blood meal, designated as A, B, C, D and E, respectively, for starter phase. Five corresponding finisher diets were used during the finisher phase. The chickens were randomly allocated to five dietary treatment groups having three replicates of 20 birds in each group. Weight gain was higher (p0.05). The results indicated that inclusion of blood meal (3%) in broiler diets reduced the relative cost per unit weight gain. It may be suggested that blood meal upto 3% can be incorporated in broiler diets without any adverse effect on production parameters during starting and finishing stages of growth.