Effects of dietary sorghum and triticale on performance, carcass traits and meat pH in broiler chickens

Abstract

The study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary partial corn replacement by white sorghum (WS) or triticale (T) on growth performance, carcass parameters and pH of meat in broilers. One-day-old unsexed Cobb 500 broilers (n=600) were randomly assigned to 3 groups with 4 replicates per treatment. The broilers were fed with isocaloric and isonitrogenous corn-soybean meal control diets (C), corn-WS-soybean meal diets (WS) or corn-T-soybean meal diets (T) for 35 days. The WS or T partially replaced corn; proportions in diets were 275.4 g/kg or 284.0 g/kg (starter), 307.0 g/kg or 308.2 g/kg (grower) and 332.7 g/kg or 335.0 g/kg (finisher). Results showed that performance (body weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio) or carcass traits (carcass yields, breast, leg, wings, liver and abdominal fat percentage) at 35 d were not affected by the inclusion of WS or T in diets. The pH values of breast (Pectoralis major) and thigh (Biceps femoris) muscle at 30 min and 24 h after slaughter were not influenced by the dietary treatments. In conclusion, partial corn replacement with white sorghum or triticale are suitable options for broiler chicken diet, with no adverse effects on growth performance, carcass characteristics or meat pH, as important quality parameters.

Keywords

• broilers
• white sorghum
• triticale
• carcass parameters
• meat pH