Nutritional evaluation of palm kernel meal types: 2. Effects on live performance and nutrient retention in broiler chicken diets

Studies were conducted to determine the effect of palm kernel meal (PKM) types on productive performance and nutrient retention of broiler chickens. The three PKM types used in this study wereobtained from different sources and were processed using different methods or different types of kernel. The results obtained indicated that for the starter phase, Okomu and Presco PKM diets gavemean body weight gain values (g/bird) of 924.1 and 922.0 which were similar to that of control diet (955.1) but superior to that of Envoy PKM diet (823.4). Feed intake values were 1802.0, 2087.1, 2017.8and 1924.44 g/bird; feed cost per bird (N) was in the order of 94.82, 87.28, 84.38 and 77.02 for control diet, Okomu, Presco and Envoy PKM diets, respectively. For the finishing phase, Okomu and PrescoPKM diets which were comparable in all the parameters were superior to Envoy PKM in terms of final body weight and body weight gain. Feed intake values were 2869.5, 3280.9, 3106.4 and 2674.0 g/bird forcontrol diet, Okomu, Presco and Envoy PKM diets (Diets 1, 2, 3 and 4), respectively. Feed cost per bird (N) was 145.93 for Diet 1, compared with 127.45, 119.72 and 99.01 for Okomu, Presco and Envoy PKMdiets, respectively. Percentage nutrient retention was optimal for animal performance on the PKM based diets. It can be concluded that mechanically processed PKM can replace 50% of maize in the dietwithout any adverse effect on performance of broiler chickens