Effects of replacement of soybean meal with different levels of poultry by-product meal broiler chickens performance

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of poultry by-product meal (PBPM) as the replacement of soybean meal (SBM) in the diets of broiler chickens on growth performance. 360 male Arbor Acers day old broiler chicks with 45 g initial body weight were selected and divided to six dietary treatments. Each treatment involved 5 replicates of 12 chickens. Experimental diets were formulated to be isocaloric and isonitrogenous. The diets involved the levels of 0, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15 percent of poultry by-product meal. Chickens were fed the experimental diets from 21 to 49 days of age. Experimental design was a completely randomized design. Measured traits, in this study, included live body weight, daily weight gain, feed consumption, feed efficiency, percentage of Tibia ash, weight of different body organs and their ratio to live body weight and feed cost per 1 kg weight gain up to 42 and 49 days of age. Results of the present study showed that the use of poultry by-product meal up to 6 percent had a positive effect on weight gain and feed to gain ratio in 42 and 49 days of age. No significant effect was observed for Tibia ash percentage (P > 0,05). Differences for live body weight, feed intake, feed to gain ratio and feed cost per 1 kg of live body weight were significant (P < 0,05). Birds fed 6 percent poultry by-product meal had maximum weight gain, yield and better feed