Evaluation of Spirulina platensis Biomass as a Sustainable Feed Supplement in Broiler Nutrition

The present study evaluated the effects of dietary supplementation of Spirulina platensis biomass cultivated using bio-methanated sago effluent on growth performance, feed utilisation, carcass characteristics and livability of broiler chickens. A total of 200 broiler chickens were randomly allotted to four treatment groups with five replicates of 10 birds each. The dietary treatments consisted of a control diet without Spirulina supplementation (T1) and diets supplemented with Spirulina platensis at 1, 2 and 3 g/kg feed (T2, T3 and T4, respectively). The experiment was conducted from 7 to 35 days of age. Body weight, cumulative feed consumption and feed conversion ratio were recorded weekly while carcass characteristics were evaluated at the end of the experiment. Dietary supplementation significantly influenced body weight from the second to fifth weeks of age. The 1 g/kg supplementation group (T2) recorded the highest body weight from the third to fifth weeks while T3 showed the highest numerical body weight during the second week. Cumulative feed consumption differed significantly during the second, third and fifth weeks. Feed conversion ratio also differed significantly during the second and third weeks while no significant differences were observed during the fourth and fifth weeks. At the end of the experiment, live weight was significantly higher in T2 and T3 than in the control and T4 groups whereas ready-to-cook weight and dressing percentage were not significantly affected. Livability was 100 per cent in all treatment groups. Overall, supplementation of Spirulina platensis at 1–2 g/kg feed showed potential to improve broiler growth performance and feed utilisation without adverse effects on carcass traits or livability.