الملخص الإنجليزي
The feed industry in the Sultanate of Oman is stable only through importation of up to 100% of feed ingredients, which increases the cost of formulated diets. This result to increase the cost of production of livestock in general and poultry in particular. Prosopis juliflora pods are one of the cheap and readily available feed sources in Oman. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the use Prosopis juliflora pods as a partial replacements of corn for growing broiler chicken. The main objective of Experiment 1, ileal digestibility assay, was to assess the nutritional value of Prosopis juliflora pods compared with corn for feeding broiler chicken. The two test ingredients, corn and Prosopis juliflora pods, were incorporated individually as the sole source of energy. Forty birds of Cobb 500 were divided into two groups with four replicates, each replicate containing 5 birds. Prosopis juliflora pods had lower apparent metabolizable energy (AME) content (10.64 vs 15.26) and apparent ileal digestibility coefficient for crude fiber (0.24 vs 0.63). Based on the results of experiment 1, a growth study was conducted to test the effect of exogenous enzymes on the nutritive value of Prosopis juliflora pods (experiment 2). Three level of Prosopis juliflora pods (5%, 10% and 15%) with and without enzyme supplementation were evaluated. One hundred sixty birds of Cobb 500 were divided into eight groups with four replicates each 5 birds. Daily feed intake, body weight gain, and feed conversion ratio were recorded. At the end of the growth experiment 2, 64 birds were randomly selected to evaluate carcass and meat quality characteristics. Substitution of corn by 10%, and 15% Prosopis juliflora pods were significantly (P>0.001) depressed the AME. Enzyme supplementation did not improve crude fiber digestibility. The inclusion of Prosopis juliflora pods in the diet except at 5% decreased average daily gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio. Addition of Prosopis juliflora pods caused a significantly (P>0.001) increased the weights of bird's total digestive tract, pancreas, small intestine and caecum. Addition of Prosopis juliflora pods or exogenous enzyme had no effect on carcass or meat quality characteristics, haematology and serum biochemistry and sensory evaluation. This study indicated that Prosopis juliflora pods can be included at level of 5% in broiler's diets without affecting the broiler performance.
