Effect of Pelleting Using Different Binders on the Nutrients Utilization and Carcass Traits in Broiler Chicks

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of pelleting using different binders on the nutrients utilization and carcass traits in broilers. 320 day old broiler chicks were randomly distributed into eight treatments having two replicates of each. Control (T₁) diet was prepared as per BIS (1992). Other treatments were prepared by pelleting control diet viz. T₂- pellets without binder, T₃- 2.5% molasses, T₄- 2% sodium bentonite, T₅ - 2% guar meal, T₆- 5% wheat, T₇-0.5% hydrated lime and T₈- 3.5% molasses + 0.5% hydrated lime were used as binders. The results revealed that dry matter metabolizabilty was not affected due to pelleting, source and levels of binders. Nitrogen retention was significantly (P<0.05) improved in T₂, T₃ and T₅ treatments. Gross energy metabolizabilty was statistically similar in all the treatments. Dressed, eviscerated, giblet and drawn yield; thigh and breast muscles composition; weights of heart, liver and gizzard were not affected due to treatments. Based on this study, it can be inferred that nutrient utilization and carcass traits was not affected by the use of different binders in pelleting of diets for broilers.