Effect of temperature and time variation by toasting guar meal on the performance, nutrient digestibility and serum parameters of broiler chickens

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of temperature and time variation on toasting of guar meal (GM) on the performance and nutrient digestibility at 10% inclusion in broilers. A total of 440 one-day-old male broiler chicks were allotted to eleven dietary treatments in such a way that each treatment had eight replicates of 5 chicks each. Dietary treatments containing 0% GM (control), 10% raw GM (T₂) and 10% toasted GM (GM toasted at 110p C for 10, 20 and 30 minutes as T₃, T₄ and T₅, respectively); similarly 10% TGM (GM toasted at 120p C for 10, 20 and 30 minutes as T₆, T₇ and T₈, respectively), while 10% TGM (GM toasted at 130p C for 10, 20 and 30 minutes as T₉, T₁₀ and T₁₁ respectively), replacing SBM in starter and finisher diets. The results showed that the body weight gain improved significantly (P<0.05) by inclusion of TGM (110p C and 120p C for 30 minutes duration) in broiler diets. Feed intake and slaughter variables did not differ significantly but feed conversion ratio was significantly lower in TGM at 10% compared to control. Energy retention was comparable to the control while the dry matter digestibility and protein retention was significantly higher than control. The concentration of serum total protein was higher, while albumin was not influenced and total cholesterol was significantly (P<0.05) lower than control, whereas, feed cost incurred per kg live weight gain was significantly lower to that of control.