Replacement of soybean meal with sunflower one in the diet of broiler chickens and its influence on their growth and development

Abstract

Goal. To analyze the influence of replacement of soy with protein sunflower concentrate in the diets for broiler chickens and to evaluate the effect of this ingredient on the growth and development of poultry. Methods. The experiment was conducted on broiler chickens of cross Cobb 500 for fattening from 1-day age to 42-days age. 3 groups of 50 chickens were formed, which were fed with rations where soy components were replaced with protein sunflower concentrate at the levels: 0% (control group), 45% (experimental group 1), and 70% (experimental group 2). Feed consumption and bird death were recorded daily, and the live weight of the bird was monitored weekly. At the end of the experiment, the slaughter qualities of broilers were evaluated. Results. The addition of protein sunflower concentrate to the diets of broiler chickens (crude protein level — 44.4%) did not negatively influence their growth and development, but on the contrary, increased the final live weight by 20.3% (experimental group 2). Replacement of soybeans with this ingredient at the level of 45% (experimental group 1) did not significantly affect feed conversion, live weight dynamics, and slaughter qualities of chickens. Increasing the level of replacement to 70% (experimental group 2) contributed to the improvement of poultry productivity — the average daily increase in live weight exceeded this index in other groups by 19.4–20.9%. The yield of the gutted carcass in the group with 70% soybean substitution for sunflower was 5.5% higher than in the control (without sunflower) and in the experimental group 1 (45% soybean replacement with sunflower) — 73.1%, against 67.6–67.7%. Feed costs per 1 kg of growth in the experimental group 2 were lower by 14.8–15.3% (1.61 kg). The meat productivity index for the diet with a 70% replacement of soy with sunflower protein concentrate was 322.5. Conclusions. Taking into account productivity indicators (increase in live weight and intensity of its growth, improved feed conversion, increased gut carcass yield) and technological efficiency of fattening, it is recommended to replace up to 70% of soy components with protein sunflower concentrate in broiler diets.