Effect of Replacing Soybean Meal and Dicalcium Phosphate in the Diets with Alternative Ingredients and Phytase Supplementation on Growth and Nutrient Balance in Broiler Chicken

The study was conducted for evaluating the effect of phytase supplementation on growth and nutrient balance in broiler chicken fed diets containing sunflower meal (SFM) as a partial replacement for soybean meal and two different levels of dicalcium phosphate (DCP) with or without exogenous phytase. The experiment was carried out using 300 broilers from 1 to 35 day of age. There were 5 dietary treatments in each with 4 replicates of 15 birds in each. Soybean meal in control diet was partially replaced using 20% SFM with either 1 or 2 percent DCP supplementation; each level of DCP was again supplemented with 500 FTU/kg of a commercial phytase. Phytase supplemented chickens recorded significantly (P<0.01) higher body weight, feed conversion ratio and dressing yield when compared with non-supplemented birds. The nutrient retention was significantly (P<0.01) higher in the broilers supplemented with phytase compared to non-supplemented rations. The economic benefit analysis (on feed cost) revealed higher net returns in broilers fed with rations having alternative ingredients and supplemented with phytase when compared with birds on reference diet. It can be concluded that SFM can replace SBM by 20 percent along with 50 percent substitution of DCP by limestone when supplemented with phytase.