Effect of protease enzime supplementation on the weight and proportion of edible slaughter by-products of broiler chickens

Abstract

There has been relatively little research on protease enzyme supplementation of broiler feeds having a reduced crude protein level. The available literature suggests that reduced amounts of protein feedstuffs, primarily soybean meal, in complete broiler feeds coupled with protease enzyme supplementation produce a number of positive results such as increased feed conversion efficiency, enhanced digestibility of certain feed ingredients, reduced environmental pollution due to lower excretion of nitrogen-containing substances into the environment, reduced feeding costs, improved health, etc. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of protease enzyme supplementation of complete feeds for broiler fattening (at a rate of 0.2% and 0.3%) as compared to the control group (without protease enzyme supplementation) on the weight of edible slaughter by-products (liver, proventriculus, heart and abdominal fat) and their proportion in bird weight before slaughter. Cobb 500 hybrid was used in the trial. Length of fattening period was 49 days and it included three stages: starter (days 1-21), grover (days 22-42) and finisher (days 43-49).