POTATO WASTE MEAL. II. THE NUTRITIVE VALUE AND QUALITY FOR BROILER CHICKEN

Abstract

Two experiments were carried out to ascertain the nutritional value of potato waste meal (PW) as a replacement for corn in practical poultry diets using 320 male and 320 female Cobb chicks fed from 1-day-old to 46 days (exp. 1) and 49 days (exp. 2) a basal cereal-based diet containing soybean and fishmeals or test diets each containing 50 g, 100 g, 150 g, 200 g and 300 g PW/kg. In both experiments, the diets were analyzed for elemental and amino acid composition, and the growth responses on the test diets were evaluated individually over a period of 28 days and 46 days or 49 days of ad libitum feeding. Although PW appeared limiting with respect to methionine and cystine, arginine and the aromatic amino acids, it was found that upon supplementation with methionine (0.5 g/kg), the test mixtures exhibited a synergistic effect compared with controls, and that this potato byproduct can be considered a good substitute ingredient for a proportion (200 g/kg) of the ground corn in a practical diet for broiler chickens. Feeding PW at a rate of up to 200 g/kg resulted in optimum biological response and monetary returns. The inclusion of up to 300 g/kg PW in the diets did not increase wetness of the litter or hardness of pellets, two factors reported earlier which could limit the use of PW in animal diets. Key words: Potato waste, nutritive value, broiler chicken