Effect of feeding fermented cottonseed meal on growth performance, carcass characteristics and blood serum lipid profile of broiler chickens

The effect of feeding fermented cottonseed meal on performance, carcass characteristics and blood serum lipid profile was studied in a completely randomized design with five treatments, five replicates and 12 birds per replication using 300 male Ross 308 broiler chicks. Raw cottonseed meal was fermented with a liquid mixed culture containing Bacillus subtilis, Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus oryzae with a ratio of 1:1.2. After seven days of fermentation, free gossypol was reduced from 584.33 to 68 mg/kg. The experimental treatments included replacing 0, 10, and 20 percent of the raw or fermented cottonseed meal by the soybean meal in the diet. The use of fermented cottonseed meal in the diet improved weight gain and feed conversion ratio of broilers compared to the raw cottonseed meal (P