Effect of Different Levels of Dietary Glucosinolates on Performance of Broiler Chicks

Two hundred Arian broiler chicks were used to investigate the effect of contents of dietary glucosinolates on performance of broiler chicks during starter (0-21 days of age) and grower periods (22-42 days of age) in a completely randomized design. The dietary glucosinolates contents in the starter period were 0 (S1), 7.5 (S2), 15 (S3), 22.5 (S4), 30 (S5) µmol/g and in the grower period they were 0 (G1), 5.7 (G2), 11.4 (G3), 17.1 (G4), 22.8 (G5) µmol/g. Feed intake during the grower period was affected (P<0.05) by different levels of glucosinolates in the diets and the lowest feed intake was observed in the G5 treatment. The lowest body weight gains were observed in the S5 and G5 treatments during the starter and grower periods, respectively (P<0.05). The feed conversion ratio (FCR) in the S5 treatment for the starter and the G5 treatment for the grower period were significantly different (P<0.05) from other treatments. The correlation between the body weight gain and level of dietary glucosinolates or glucosinolate consumption was high during the starter (r = -95.3% and -94.7%, respectively) and relatively high (r = -69.5% and -72.4%, respectively) during the grower period. This experiment showed that the amount of glucosinolates in the diets of broiler chicks for the periods of starter and grower feeding system should not be more than 11.36 and 8.11µmol/g diet, respectively. Also during the starter and grower feeding periods, the highest level of rapeseed meal could be used in the broiler diets are 13 and 8 percent, respectively.