Table 4.
Effects of stale maize on relative organ weight (% of BW) in broilers
| Items | CON1) | Stale maize1) | SEM | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digestive organs (%) | ||||
| Liver | ||||
| d 21 | 3.41a | 3.09b | 0.06 | <0.01 |
| d 42 | 2.31 | 2.28 | 0.05 | 0.54 |
| Pancreas | ||||
| d 21 | 0.45 | 0.39 | 0.02 | 0.23 |
| d 42 | 0.33b | 0.37a | 0.01 | 0.04 |
| Proventriculus | ||||
| d 21 | 0.72 | 0.70 | 0.01 | 0.17 |
| d 42 | 0.38 | 0.39 | 0.01 | 0.76 |
| Gizzard | ||||
| d 21 | 3.12 | 3.20 | 0.09 | 0.60 |
| d 42 | 2.61b | 2.79a | 0.06 | 0.04 |
| Immune organs (%) | ||||
| Spleen | ||||
| d 21 | 1.08a | 0.87b | 0.04 | 0.04 |
| d 42 | 1.36a | 1.21b | 0.04 | 0.04 |
| Bursa of fabricius | ||||
| d 21 | 1.70a | 1.25b | 0.08 | 0.02 |
| d 42 | 1.06 | 0.99 | 0.11 | 0.80 |
| Thymus | ||||
| d 21 | 4.38a | 4.06b | 0.09 | 0.03 |
| d 42 | 3.80 | 3.58 | 0.08 | 0.22 |
Means represent 20 cages of broilers with 4 birds per cage (n = 20/group).
BW, body weight; SEM, Standard error of the means.
1)
CON, basal diet; Stale maize, basal diet containing 100% stale maize.
a,b
Means with different superscripts in a row differ significantly (p<0.05).