Sunflower Meal and Enzyme Supplementation in Diets of Broilers from 21 to 42 Days of Age

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of male broiler chickens in the period from 21 to 42 days of age fed diets with increasing levels of sunflower meal (SM) supplemented with an enzyme complex (EC). A total of 1920 animals of the Cobb strain were distributed in a randomized block design in a 4 × 3 factorial arrangement (four SM levels and three enzymes utilization types), with eight replicates, each containing 20 birds. The sunflower meal inclusion levels were 0, 8, 16 and 24%, utilized in three different diets. The first one was calculated so as to meet all the nutritional requirements of birds, except for the nutrients which would be provided by the nutritional matrix of the EC, considered as the negative control (NC). The second diet was calculated in the same way as the first one but was supplemented with 0.5% of EC (NC+EC). The last diet was calculated so as to meet all the nutritional requirements of animals, called as positive control (PC). The parameters assessed were feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion, carcass parameters and productive (PEI) and economic (EEI) efficiency indices. The addition of EC in the diets for broiler chickens did not improve the parameters of feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion or carcass parameters. The increase in the SM levels in the diet worsened the parameters of weight gain and feed conversion. The best EEI was for the animals fed the diet NC + EC, with inclusion of 8.0% SM.