Two feeding trials each of 5 weeks duration, were condueted using dayold broiler chicks to assess the effect of replacing fishmeal with a mixture of soyabean meal and groundnut cake. In both the trials, the birds receiving a ration containing 7.5% fishmeal performed better in terms of body weight gain (846.8 and 1032.2 g) than the 10% fishmeal diet groups (815.2 and 860.9g). A significant (P<0.01) increase in nitrogen retention was observed in the 7.5% fishmeal group. Supplementation of the fishmeal free ration with manganese and zinc did not help to improve the weight gain of broilers. PCV, Hb and plasma proteins in various treatments irrespective of the fishmeal level in the ration did not vary signficantly between the groups. But the plasma levels calcium, phopshorus, manganese and zinc were low in the fishmeal free group.
Fishmeal, vegetable proteins, broilers
