Vol. 10, Issue 9 (2021)

Author(s):
KP Narayana, BC Mondal, Manju Lata and Tushar Gupta

Abstract:
A feeding trial was conducted to discern the effect of dietary incorporation of pea (Pisum sativum L.) pods residue powder on growth performance, nutrient utilization, carcass traits in commercial broiler chickens. 120 (one day-old) broiler chicks divided into four treatment groups with three replicates of 10 chicks in each for 42 days viz., 0-21 days (starter phase) and 22-42 days (finisher phase). The groups were T₁ (control) having no any replacement where as T₂, T₃ and T₄ were incorporated with pea pods residue powder at 50, 75 and 100 per cent levels by replacing rice polish, respectively. During starter phase the body weight gain of T₂ and T₄ groups were significantly (P< 0.05) higher than T₁ and T₃. Performance index was higher in T₄ as compared to other groups. During finisher and entire rearing phase body weight gain, feed intake, FCR and performance index were similar in all groups. Nutrient utilization in terms of dry matter, crude protein, crude fat and organic matter did not differ significantly among different groups. Sensory attributes viz., juiciness, texture, overall acceptability and appearance were significantly higher in T₄ treatment group. The protein content in breast (P< 0.05) and thigh muscle (P< 0.01) were higher in pea pods residue powder incorporated groups. There were no any significant (P>0.05) differences were observed between the treated groups fed pea pods residue powder in terms of carcass characteristic and revealed no significant difference in the terms of feed cost per kg live weight gain (Rs) for the overall periods (0-6 weeks).Therefore, it could be concluded that incorporation of pea pods residue powder in the diets of commercial broiler chickens had no marked positive effect on their growth performance.