Table 2.
Effect of experimental diet on productive performance of broilers
| Co | Bu | Wh | BuWh | SEM1 | p-value2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter period (0–21 days) | ||||||
| Body Weight (g) | 635.6b | 544.2c | 627.7b | 681.3a | 10.8 | *** |
| Daily Weight Gain (g/d) | 29.9b | 25.3c | 29.5b | 32.2a | 0.5 | *** |
| Daily Feed Intake (g/d) | 46.8a | 41.3b | 46.3a | 49.1a | 0.9 | *** |
| Feed Conversion Ratio3 | 1.57ab | 1.64a | 1.57ab | 1.53b | 0.02 | * |
| Survival (%) | 97.3 | 98.0 | 99.3 | 100.0 | 1.2 | NS |
| Grower-finisher period (22–42 days) | ||||||
| Daily Weight Gain (g/d) | 99.1 | 99.5 | 102.4 | 100.5 | 1.4 | NS |
| Daily Feed Intake (g/d) | 160.6 | 154.4 | 162.8 | 159.2 | 2.2 | NS |
| Feed Conversion Ratio3 | 1.62 | 1.55 | 1.59 | 1.58 | 0.02 | NS |
| Survival (%) | 93.3 | 94.7 | 97.3 | 96.7 | 2.3 | NS |
| Overall production period (0–42 days) | ||||||
| Body Weight (g) | 2716.0ab | 2633.1b | 2778.7a | 2791.9a | 34.0 | * |
| Daily Weight Gain (g/d) | 65.3ab | 63.3b | 66.8a | 67.2a | 0.8 | * |
| Daily Feed Intake (g/d) | 105.1a | 99.2b | 106.0a | 105.5a | 1.4 | * |
| Feed Conversion Ratio3 | 1.61 | 1.57 | 1.59 | 1.57 | 0.01 | NS |
| Survival (%) | 90.7 | 92.7 | 96.7 | 96.7 | 2.5 | NS |
| European Production Efficiency Factor4 | 364c | 370bc | 403ab | 409a | 8.4 | ** |
Co, basal control diet with no supplementation; Bu, basal diet supplemented with 0.1% calcium butyrate; Wh, basal diet supplemented with 6% whey; BuWh, basal diet supplemented with 0.1% calcium butyrate and 6% whey
Each value represents the least square mean of five replicates (30 birds per replicate)
a,b,cMeans in a row not sharing a common superscript are significantly different
1Pooled standard error of mean
2Significance of the effect of Diet (NS: not significant; *: p < 0.05; **: p < 0.01; ***: p < 0.001)
3Feed Conversion Ratio: feed intake (g)/weight gain (g)
4European Production Efficiency Factor: ((Survival rate [%] x Body weight [kg])/(age [d] x Feed Conversion Ratio)) × 100