Response and Economic Benefits of Broiler Chickens Production Using Red Sorghum as a Replacement for Maize

A study was conducted to evaluate the response and economic benefits of replacing maize with red sorghum in broiler diets. Five diets were formulated in which Red sorghum replaced maize at 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 % in diets 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively. The diets were designated as treatment 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Two hundred (200) day-old broiler chicks were used for the research. Experimental feeds and water were given ad libitum and all other routine activities such vaccination against Newcastle disease were carried out according to schedule. Data generated were subjected to analysis of variance. The results obtained showed no significant differences were observed in all the performance parameters studied at both the starter and finisher phases. At starter phase, the highest initial body weight was found on diet 1(264.59g) and the lowest was found on diet 5 (252.08g). Daily feed intake ranged from 74.48 g on diet 3 to 81.30 g on diet 5. Daily weight gain values ranged from 23.66g on diet 1 to 25.45g on diet 5. The feed conversion ratio ranged from 3.13 on diet 4 to 3.22 on diet 1. Also at finisher phase, the final weight gain ranged from 1622.41 g on diet 4 to 1797.30 g on diet 2. The daily feed intake ranged between 23.38 g on diet 1 to 31.26 g on diet 2. The best feed conversion ratio was obtained on diet 3 (2.82) while the poor feed conversion ratio was obtained on diet 4 (3.18). Numerical values for daily feed intake were between 78.32 g on diet 3 to 86.16 g on diet 5. Daily weight gain which ranged from 26.04g on diet 4 to 27.84 g on diet 2 are statistically similar. Feed conversion ratio ranged from 2.99 on diet 3 to 3.31 on diet 5are statistically similar. The lowest feed cost was obtained in diet 5 (N305.61) were red sorghum replaced maize at 100%, while the highest was obtained in diet 3(31.68) it is therefore concluded that red sorghum can completely replace maize in broiler chicken diets without affecting the general performance of the birds. It is therefore recommended that red sorghum should be used in broiler diets formulation as a replacement for maize, because it is cheaper and give the same result as maize.