Vet World Vol.15 March-2022 Article-4
Research Article
Veterinary World, 15(3): 551-557
https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2022.551-557
Dehydrated husks and cake of prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) processing for broiler feed: Effects on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality
2. Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Life and Earth Sciences, University of Ghardaia, Ghardaïa 47000 Algeria.
3. Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Sétif 1, El Bez, Sétif 19000, Algeria.
Background and Aim: The potential solution is to use agro-industrial by-products as an unconventional source of raw materials for broiler feed. This study aims to determine the effects of substituting prickly pear (FB; Opuntia ficus-indica) husks for corn and FB seed cake for soybean meal on the production performance, slaughter characteristics, and chemical composition of broiler meat.
Materials and Methods: Two hundred day-old chicks of equal sex ratio (1:1) of Big Fast strain, weighing on average 37±2g, were randomly divided into four homogeneous groups of 50 subjects each. Each group was subdivided into 10 packs of five animals, which were banded and numbered. Rations with substitution rates of 0%, 10%, 20%, and 30% of corn and soybean meal by dehydrated husks and FB cake were randomly distributed among the groups.
Results: Average daily gains and body weights on 48 days were improved (p<0.05) in 10% and 20% groups, while the 30% group performed identically to the control. Cold carcass yield was optimal in 10% and 20% groups. The liver weight of the experimental groups decreased significantly (p<0.05), while their gizzard weight increased significantly (+24 points). The meat protein rate evolved proportionally to the substitution rate, whereas the fat rate depreciated by up to –1.08 points for the 30% group compared to the control.
Conclusion: Incorporating FB processing by-products into broiler feed at rates of 10% and 20% improves zootechnical performance, carcass yields, and the chemical composition of the meat. Keywords: broiler feed, prickly pear processing, production cost.
Keywords: broiler feed, prickly pear processing, production cost.
How to cite this article: Cherif I, Arbouche R, Arbouche Y, Mennani A, Arbouche F (2022) Dehydrated husks and cake of prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) processing for broiler feed: Effects on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality, Veterinary World, 15(3): 551-557.
Received: 30-09-2021 Accepted: 27-01-2022 Published online: 09-03-2022
Corresponding author: Fodil Arbouche E-mail: arbouchefodil@yahoo.fr
DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2022.551-557
Copyright: Cherif, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.