Abstract

    This study was conducted to investigate the effect of canola meal in broiler diets during starter (0-4 weeks) and finisher (5th week) phases of growth. For this purpose, 1905 day-old broiler (Star bro) chicks were reared in an environmentally controlled house using completely randomized design. Five different isonitrogenous and isocaloric experimental pelleted diets were prepared with five levels viz. 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25% of canola meal (containing 85% KOH solubility and 36% crude protein), designated as A, B, C, D and E, respectively, for starter phase. Five corresponding finisher diets were used during the finisher phase. The chickens were randomly allocated to five dietary treatment groups having three replicates of 127 birds in each group. Feed intake during 0-4 weeks of age was reduced (P<0.01) in chickens fed diets with increasing level of canola meal, whereas, non-significant difference (P>0.05) was found during 5th week of age. Weight gain was higher in chickens fed diets containing 25% canola meal during two stages of growth but difference was not significant (P>0.05) among the treatments.  Similarly, during starting phase, feed utilization efficiency was better (P< 0.01) in chickens fed diet containing 25% canola meal compared to all other treatment groups, however, this difference was non-significant (P>0.05) among the treatments during finishing phase. Dressing percentage and relative weight of liver of chickens among all treated groups were similar (P>0.05). The results indicated that maximum inclusion of canola meal (25%) in broiler diets reduced the relative cost per unit weight gain. It may be suggested that canola meal (with 85% KOH solubility) can be incorporated upto 25% in broiler diets without any adverse effect on production parameters during starting and finishing stages of growth.

Key words: Canola meal, broiler starting phase, broiler finishing stage, chickens performance.