Effect of partial replacement of soybean meal with Azolla cristata with or without enzyme supplementation on the performance and profitability of broiler chicken Ara Shoukat1, Adil S.2,*, Wani Manzoor A.2, Banday M.T.2 1Division of Environmental Sciences, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Shalimar, Srinagar-190006 (J&K), India 2Division of Livestock Production and Management, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Shalimar, Srinagar-190006 (J&K), India *Corresponding author Email: aadilsheikh5@gmail.com
Online Published on 15 January, 2024. Abstract This study aimed to evaluate the effect of partially replacing the soybean meal (SBM) with Azolla with or without enzyme supplementation on performance, carcass characteristics and economics of broiler chicken. The Cobb broiler chicks (n=210) were randomly assigned to seven groups having three replicates of 10 birds each. Birds in the control (T1) group were fed the basal diet, whereas the first three experimental groups were 5 % SBM replaced by Azolla (T2), 10 % SBM replaced by Azolla (T3) and 15% SBM replaced by Azolla (T4) and the other three treatment groups were T5 (T2+enzyme), T6 (T3+enzyme) and T7(T4+enzyme). The results indicated that the replacement of SBM with 10% Azolla had a beneficial influence on the performance of broiler chicken. However, a decrease in body weight was noted when SBM was replaced up to 15% with Azolla. The supplementation of the cocktail enzyme had shown a significant (p<0.05) positive influence on weight gain and feed conversion ratio even though Azolla was incorporated replacing @ 15% of the SBM. Non-significant differences (p>0.05) were observed in feed intake and carcass characteristics. The supplementation of Azolla with or without enzyme resulted in a lower cost per kg of live weight and thus increased the net profit. It is concluded that Azolla can safely and economically replace 10 and 15% of the soybean meal without and with cocktail enzyme supplementation, respectively. Top Keywords Azolla, Broiler chicken, Carcass characteristics, Cocktail enzyme, Growth, Profitability. Top |