The effect of substituting corn with sorghum grains with low tannin content (LTC) on broilers performance was investigated in a six-week feeding trial by Diaw Mamadou Tandiang of the University of Thies and co-authors there and at Senegalese Institute of Agricultural Research and Belgium's University of Liege.

In International Journal of Poultry Science, they explain that 750 day-old Cobb 500 chicks (mixed sexes) were used in this test. The birds were separated into five groups with three replicates of 50 birds for each one.

A control diet with 50 per cent corn was used in the control group. Three other diets where corn was substituted by conventional sorghum in 1/3, 2/3 and 3/3 were given respectively to the G1/3, G2/3 and G3/3 groups. The GLTC groups received diets with total substitution of maize by sorghum with LTC.

No significant difference was shown for the bodyweight between the control and the GLTC groups at 1,303g and 1,418g, respectively. However, the use of conventional sorghum decreased significantly the broilers' weight (p>0.05) with the lower weight performance (1,128 to 1,225g).

Mortality was similar for all groups, and no difference was observed for the carcass dressing percentage (68 to 76 per cent).

In terms of nutrient digestibility, Tandiang and co-authors reported only one significant difference between the starter diets or grower diets used in the trial. The only exception was fat digestibility, which was significantly (p<0.05) higher in G2/3 than the maize-only control diet or GLTC.

Reference

Tandiang D.M., M.T. Diop, A. Dieng, G.M.L. Yoda, N. Cisse and M. Nassim. 2014. Effect of corn substitution by sorghum grain with low tannin content on broilers production: Animal performance, nutrient digestibility and carcass characteristics. International Journal of Poultry Science 13(10): 568-574.

January 2015