Effect of Soybean Cultivar on Growth Performance of Broilers

Abstract Text: A 19-d study was conducted to compare soybean meal (SBM) from ten soybean cultivars owned by Missouri Soybean Association on growth performance of broiler chicks. Soybean meal was prepared by laboratory-scale mechanical extraction. Two hundred and fifty 1-d-old male broilers (Ross 308) were randomly placed in battery cages and allocated to 10 dietary treatments with 5 replicates and 5 birds per replicate. All SBM sources were heated in a convection oven at 120 °C for 20 minutes and included from 38.2 to 43.5% in the diets. Isocaloric diets were formulated to meet or exceed NRC (1994) and Aviagen nutrient requirements. Broilers were weighed and feed disappearance measured on d 7, 14, and 19. Statistical analyses were performed as a randomized complete block design using PROC GLM of SAS with significance level set at P < 0.05. No differences were observed in final body weight, body weight gain, feed intake, and feed conversion of broilers fed different SBM (P > 0.05). The body weight gain ranged from 552 to 595 g, resulting in 7.8% variation and feed conversion ranged from 1.42 to 1.36, resulting in 4.4% variation. Although there were no statistical differences in growth performance of broilers fed different soybean meals, the numerical difference in feed efficiency observed among treatments would affect the production cost margins. Nutrient digestibility may be the main factor of growth performance among the different SBM sources, suggesting further investigation.

Keywords: broiler soybean growth