Indian Journal of Animal Nutrition

An experiment was conducted to study the performance, carcass traits, serum lipid profile and cost effectiveness in commercial broilers fed pearl millet (local var.) in replacement of 0, 50, 75 and 100% of maize in treatments T₁, T₂, T₃ and T₄, respectively. Day old broiler chicks (n=120) were randomly divided into four equal groups with three replicates of 10 chicks each. All groups were supplemented with non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) degrading enzymes @ 50 g per 100 kg of feed. At the end of six weeks trial, pearl millet fed groups showed higher (P<0.01) body weight gain than maize fed groups. The ready to cook yield and carcass traits were similar in all the groups. Incorporation of pearl millet at 50, 75 and 100% level reduced the serum total cholesterol by 11.69, 30.39 and 41.25%, respectively. The feed cost per kg weight gain was lower in T₂ group by 1.80. It was concluded that pearl millet (local var.) could be effectively included replacing 50% maize in the broilers diet supplemented with NSP degrading enzymes.