Dry brewery residue in broiler chickens feed

Abstract

The residual from the food industry has the potential to replace the traditional ingredients used in animal feed, and the dry brewery residue (DBR) may be an alternative for this purpose. This study aimed to evaluate the use of DBR in the diets of broiler from 22 to 42 days of age. Five hundred and forty-six male broilers were used, with an initial average weight of 865 ± 8 g. The animals were distributed in a completely randomized design, with six levels of DBR inclusion (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10%), seven replicates and thirteen animals per experimental unit (EU). Weight gain (WG), average feed intake (AFI) and feed:gain ratio were evaluated. At 42 days of age, blood samples were collected from two broilers of each EU, and one broiler per EU was slaughtered to investigate the intestinal development. DBR interposed the WG and promoted a linear effect in this variable from 22 to 42 days of age. This effect was not observed for AFI. The inclusion of DBR interfered with the serum cholesterol values, showing a quadratic influence at the maximum response for the inclusion of 4.96%. However, the blood parameters of triglycerides, uric acid, creatinine, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and total protein remained unchanged, regardless of the level of dietary DBR. No changes in villus height and crypt depth were observed by intestinal morphometric evaluation. The inclusion of 10% DBR can be used in a poultry diet, without any damage to the performance, metabolism and development of the broilers.