Feather and blood meal in pre-starter and starter diets for broilers

Two experiments were carried out (pre-starter and starter phases) to evaluate the effect of feather and blood meal on performance, organ development and digestibility and retention of nutrients in broilers. In the first experiment, it was used 280 birds and in experiment 2, it was used 240 birds. The experimental diets were formulated with four levels of feather and blood meal (0%, 2%, 4% and 6%) all of them isonutritive and isoenergetic. A metabolic assay was developed on the 4th and 7th days of age in experiment 1 and on the 14th and 17th days of age in experiment 2. In these periods, one bird per experimental unit was sacrificed for determination of morphometry of the digestive organs. In experiment 1, in which it was evaluated the pre-starter phase, there was a negative linear effect of the levels of feather and blood meal on weight gain and intake in 1-21 day of age period. By using feather and blood meal in the diet, it was observed a linear effect on digestibility coefficient of dry matter, nitrogen and ether extract; there was a quadratic effect on retention of dry matter and nitrogen and linear effect on the retention of ether extract. However, performance of birds in the starter phase (experiment 2) was not affected by levels of feather and blood meal used in the diet. Coefficient of digestibility of dry matter and ether extract and retention of ether extract were affected. In both phases, mortality and morphometric data of digestive organs were not influenced by the levels of meal in the diet. Formulation of diets with up to 6% feather and blood meal for chickens in the pre-starter phase (from 1 to 7 days) is not a good alternative because it worsens performance of birds. However, from the initial phase (from 8 to 21 days), the use of feather and blood meal in the diet is viable. Feather and blood meal can be used at levels 3.0 or 4.0% for broilers in the pre-starter and starter phase.