EVALUATION OF BLOOD-RUMEN CONTENT MIXTURE IN THE DIETS OF STARTER CHICKS

Abstract

A trial with 234 day-old Olympian Black pullet chicks was conducted for a duration of eight weeks to determine the optimum level of inclusion of Blood-Rumen content Mixture (BRC) in the diet of starter chicks. Chicks were fed ad-libitum starter diets containing 0, 5, 10, 15, 20% BRC and another 20% BRC diet containing no soya bean  cake.  Birds  on all BRC-based diets had higher body weight gains and higher feed intakes than birds on the control diet. A progressive increase  in feed: gain ratio was observed from 10%BRC to 20% BRC in the diets. The decline in the performance of chicks fed higher levels of BRC  in the diet is suggested to be due to the high crude fiber content and possible amino acid imbalance of such diets. The results of this trial shows that starter pullets should not be fed more than 10% BRC.