Feijão guandu cru na alimentação de frangos caipiras criados em sistema semi-intensivo

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar os efeitos da substituição do farelo de soja pelo feijão guandu cru na alimentação de frangos caipiras criados em sistema semi-intensivo. Foram utilizados 525 frangos de corte da linhagem Caipira Pesadão, com idade inicial de 35 dias, distribuídos em cinco tratamentos com cinco repetições de 21 aves cada um. Os tratamentos consistiram na substituição de 0, 5, 10, 15 e 20% do farelo de soja pelo feijão guandu cru moído. Foram avaliados o ganho de peso, o consumo de ração, a conversão alimentar, o rendimento de carcaça e de cortes, o peso do pâncreas e a qualidade da carne. A substituição do farelo de soja pelo feijão guandu em até 15,45%, nas dietas de frangos caipiras de corte, com idade de 57 a 71 dias, não altera o ganho de peso. O aumento dos níveis de feijão guandu na ração não afeta o rendimento de carcaça, o peso do pâncreas e os parâmetros de qualidade da carne

Feeding value of raw and boiled pigeon pea seed meal on the growth performance of local pullet chicks

A total of 324 local pullet chicks (1- 8 weeks) were used for the research project to evaluate the feeding value of raw and boiled pigeon pea seed  meal (PSM) on their growth performance. Nine iso-caloric and isonitrogenous diets were formulated, with raw and boiled pigeon pea seed meal at inclusion levels of 0%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 30%, respectively. There were 36 chicks per treatment replicated into 3 at 12 chicks per replicate. There were significant interactions between form and PSM levels on the final live weight, daily feed intake and daily protein intake. Final live weight of  pullets fed both raw and boiled PSM followed the same trend, pullets fed control (0%) and 15% raw PSM 128.10 and 132.33g respectively performed better than the rest of the treatment levels but statistically similar at all levels. Daily feed intake and daily protein intake showed significant  interaction among the treatments. Pullets fed control (8.95g) and raw diets (8.79g) consumed more feed than pullets fed boiled PSM II (105.05g), III (117.77g) IV (91.27g) and V (112.80g) diets. Daily weight gain, feed conversion ratio and protein efficiency ratio had no significant (P>0.05) interaction between form and treatment groups for the pullets. 30% PSM raw or boiled can be fed to local pullet chicks without any deleterious  effect on the growth performance. Keywords: Raw PSM, Boiled PSM, Feeding value, Growing local pullet

Microbial population and blood profile of finisher broiler chickens fed diets supplemented with Crina poultry plus®.

A study was carried out to determine the effect of Crina Poultry Plus® (a natural blend of essential oils and benzoic acid) on microbial population and blood profile of finisher broiler chickens. Six treatment diets were formulated by the addition of Crina Poultry Plus® (CPP®) at 0, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5 and 0.6g/kg of feed. Two hundred and forty day-old chicks were allocated with each treatment having 4 replicates and 10 broilers each in a completely randomized design (CRD). Data were collected on the microbial population (crop and ceca) and serum lipid profile. The result of microbial population showed that lactic acid bacteria counts were significantly (P<0.05) higher in the crop and ceca of birds fed diet containing CPP® compared to the control group. The coliform count was significantly (P<0.05) higher in the crop and ceca of broilers fed control diets compared to diets supplemented with CPP®. The PCV, RBC, Hb and WBC were significantly (P<0.05) higher in broilers fed CPP® compared to the control group, while the cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoprotein were significantly (P<0.05) lower compared to birds fed control diet. High density lipoprotein was significantly (P<0.05) higher in birds fed diets containing CPP® than those fed control diet. It was concluded that the addition of 0.6 g CPP® in broiler diets maintained the haematological indices, microbial balance and improved the level of high density lipoprotein.Keywords: benzoic acid, essential oils, microbial population, blood profile and broiler chickens