Performance and Carcass Characteristics of Broiler Chicken Fed Soybean and Sesame/Soybean Based Diets Supplemented With or Without Microbial Phytase

Aims: The experiment was conducted to investigate the performance and carcass characteristics of meat-type chicken fed Soybean Meal (SBM) and Sesame/Soybean Meal (SSBM) supplemented with or without microbial phytase.
Study Design: The experiment employed a complete randomized design; all data generated were subjected to analysis of variance, P=0.05.
Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out at the Teaching and Research Farm of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, between October and December, 2011.
Methodology: One hundred and sixty-eight unsexed two weeks old Arbor Acre strain chickens were used in a 35-day feeding trial. Two feeding regimes of soybean meal and Sesame/soybean meal based diets were formulated. Each feeding regime comprised of control diet and two levels of phytase units (300 and 600 FTU/kg) of 500 unit /g activity making a total of six dietary treatments. The birds were fed the experimental diets for a 35-day period during which data were obtained on Feed Intake (FI), Body Weight Gain (BWG) and Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR). At the end of the feeding trial, three birds were slaughtered per replicate to evaluate carcass and meat characteristics.
Results: The addition of phytase improved the birds’ performance, FI and FCR. Significant (P<0.05) increase was obtained for apparent retention of nitrogen (67.22%), ash (74.85%), ether extract (65.43%), crude fibre (76.22%) and Phosphorus (45.58%). Cooking loss values increased while the Water Holding Capacity (WHC) reduced with microbial phytase supplementation.
Conclusion: Sesame/soybean diet supplemented with 300 FTU/Kg microbial phytase gave optimum performance and should probably be adopted as the feeding regime of choice since it also resulted in better nutrient utilization by the birds.