The Effect of Replacement of Soybean Meal with Lupine Seed (Lupinus Albus vr. Energy) on Growth Performance and Carcass Traits in Turkeys
Abstract
This research has been conducted to check to what extent soybean meal in the turkey broilers meals can be replaced partially by alkaloid free lupine seeds, monitoring the effect of this important alternative source of protein on the production performance, carcass quality and on the economic efficiency. The experiment was made as a fully randomized experimental design which consisted of four treatments which involved a control diet consisting of corn - soybean meal (LC) and three experimental diets (i.e. E1, E2 and E3 lots) in which protein from soybean meal were replaced with alkaloids free lupine flour. White lupine beans (vr. Energy - alkaloids free variety) obtained in specific climatic conditions of the Western Romania, after grinding, were introduced in the structure of mixed fodder at a rate of 20% (in the lot E1), 30% (in the lot E2) and 40% (in the lot E3). Substituting soybean protein meals in turkey broilers by inserting alkaloids free white lupine beans in the structure of mixed fodder at a rate of up to 30% (% by weight) has no adverse effect on the following: weight gain, degree of food recovery, slaughter and carcass quality indices. A significant reduction (p <0.05) of the performance has been found in broilers from the lot E3, where white lupine seeds were introduced in the mixed fodder at a rate of 40%. In comparison with the control group, the final weight of turkey broilers from the lot E3 was lower by 7.80%, the feed intake was lower by 3.71%, the feed consumption per 1 kg gain in weight was higher by 4.42%, and the chest share in the carcass structure was lower by 1.54 percentage points. As against the control lot (LC), in the case of the experimental groups the price of one kg of mixed forage decreased by 14.02% and the feed costs per 1 kg gain in weight decreased by 10.78% (i.e. the case of the turkey broilers in group E2 where food the lupine seeds accounted for 30% - in % by weight of feed). The increase of lupine seeds share in the structure of mixed fodder up to 40% ensure a significant reduction of feed costs per achieving a gain of a single kg (by 10.2% as compared to control lot), but because of the significant reduction in the average weight of turkeys at slaughter age (by approx. 1.5 kg/ turkey versus control group), we assess that this is not an optimal solution for feeding turkey broilers.a) Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
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