Performance of broilers fed a universal protein concentrate blended with cassava root meal as a finisher ration in Papua New Guinea

The use of local ingredients in poultry diets is a key strategy to mitigate the high cost of commercial feed and improve profitability of small-scale farming. The aim of the study was to assess the growth performance and production costs of broilers fed a diet of milled cassava blended with a locally formulated protein concentrate. The test diet was compared against the commercially available broiler finisher feeds presented as pellets and milled crumble. The three diets were replicated four times with fifteen birds per replicate using a completely randomised design. Broiler chickens (N=180) at 21 days were randomly allocated in 12 pens and the weekly body weights, body weight gains, in-takes, feed conversion ratio and production costs based on feed consumed were recorded. The live body weights of birds on the three diets were similar at days 28, 35 and 42. At day 28, feed intake of birds fed the commercial diets as pellets and milled crumble were higher (P<0.05) than that for birds fed the test diet. All feed intakes were similar after day 35. Birds on test diet performed better (P<0.05) in terms of body weight gain and feed conversion at day 28. However, body weight gain and feed conversion did not differ at days 35 and 42. The overall production cost for birds on test diet was 2.3 % higher than the commercial diet. However, the feed cost for test diet was 11 % lower compared to the commercial diet, suggesting that protein concentrate blended with cassava is cheaper to purchase. Further studies are recommended to assess different inclusion levels of cassava root meals as well as other local ingredients with the protein concentrate.