Corn gluten meal in slow growth broiler diet

Abstract

This study was developed to evaluate the effect of the inclusion of corn gluten meal (CGM21) in diets of free range chickens during the period of growth (32 to 63 days) and total (32 to 84 days), on performance. A total of 240 free range broiler chickens was used in completely randomized design, with four treatments and four replicates of 15 birds each. Treatments consisted of diets with inclusion of 0, 7, 14 and 21% of CGM21. The birds were housed in a semi-intensive system. In the growth phase, the performance of birds was not influenced by the inclusion of CGM21, but in the total period the feed conversion was improved with the inclusion of 9.8% CGM21. The maximum weight gain during the total period was obtained with 9.05% inclusion. Upon carcass evaluation, the variables affected by the level of inclusion of CGM21 were found to be the weight and yield of the liver, thigh weight, drumstick yield and abdominal fat yield, presenting maximum values at the levels: 9.64, 8.60, 11.65, 13.65 and 10.75%, respectively. In conclusion, it is found that CGM21 can be added to slow growth broiler diet up to levels of 10%, starting from the growth phase.