Effects of diet composition on the energy balance of free-ranging organic broilers

Summary

In organic broiler production, one big factor in meeting the energy requirements of birds is through forage and concentrate feeds. In organic production, birds consume every kind of grass within the pasture. This study investigated the performance of slow growing broilers with an outdoor access, documenting the energy balance between slow growers in forage pasture. Four hundred slow growing broilers of Hubbard JA 957 strain were assigned to two Treatments. In Treatment 1, birds were placed in grass/white clover-covered plot and provided with 70 % concentrates adlibitum while in Treatment II, birds were placed in wheat stubble plot and received 35 % concentrate and 35% whole wheat. Each plot had an area of 25m × 10m and enclosed with nets. Results showed that slow growing broilers were not able to compensate their energy requirement resulting to poor weight. Nevertheless, the 70 % concentrates adlibitum diet in wheat stubble plot can be worthy recommendation for farmers since resulting growth rate showed optimistic outcome in terms of farm input due to manure accumulated by soil and an added income for farmers after harvest season.