Effect of Replacement of Protein Binder with Fish Meal on Nutrient Digestibility and Performance in the Diet of Broiler Chickens

This experiment was conducted to determinate the effects of different levels of Amet protein binder (0, 1.5, 3, 4.5 and 6) in substitution for fish meal on performance and digestibility of nutrients. This study used 400 broiler chickens (Ross strain) with 5 treatments of 4 replications in a completely randomized design. Weight gain, feed consumption, and feed conversion ratio were determined at the end of each phase of the experiment. In addition, the digestibility of nutrients and apparent metabolizable energy (AMEn) of the whole diets were measured by sampling excreta. The results showed that levels of 4.5 and 6% of Amet significantly decreased feed consumption (P< 0.01). Feed consumption was higher for 1.5, 0(control), and 3% Amet in diets, respectively. At the starting phase, 1.5% Amet treatment improved feed conversion ratio (P<0.01). The treatments 6% and 4.5% Amet increased feed conversion ratio in all phases of experiment and the final phase. Percentages of abdominal fat were not significantly affected by treatments. Replacement of different levels of Amet except the treatment 6% had no significant effect on percentage of carcass. The level of 1.5% Amet versus control significantly increased AMEn (P<0.01). It seems that the inclusion of 1.5% Amet binder in the diet can positively affect performance and AMEn of diet in broiler chickens.