The nutritive value of edible elements of the carcasses of broiler chickens fed mixtures with faba bean

Abstract

Background. The nutrition of chickens is an important factor which influences not only rearing indicators but also the quality of meat, including its nutritional value. The aim of the study was to determine the content of basic nutrients (protein, fat, ash) and the energy value in the muscles and liver of chickens fed mixtures with faba bean. Milczarek, A., Osek, M. (2017). Wartość odżywcza wybranych elementów jadalnych tuszek kurcząt brojlerów żywionych mieszankami z bobikiem. Nauka Przyr. Technol., 11, 2, 135–144. http://dx.doi.org/10.17306/J.NPT. 00196 144 Material and methods. The experiment was conducted in a two-factor design on four groups (N1, N2, W1, W2) of broiler chickens. The birds were fed a mixture of maize and soybean with the following shares of low-tannin beans: 8/15% (group N1) and 16/22% (group N2), in Starter/ /Grower mixtures, respectively, and they were fed mixtures with the same shares of high-tannin faba beans in groups W1 and W2. The chickens were reared for 5 weeks. Next, 12 standardised birds were chosen from each group and they were slaughtered. Samples of chickens’ muscles and liver were collected during the slaughter analysis in order to measure the content of basic nutrients and calculate the energy value. Results. The nutrition did not affect the slaughter yield, the share of breast and leg muscles or hearts and stomachs in chicken carcasses. However, it significantly (P < 0.05) modified the share of skin with subcutaneous fat and total edible viscera, including the liver. The higher share of faba bean (regardless of the content of tannins) decreased the share of skin with subcutaneous fat, but it simultaneously increased the share of the liver. The breast muscles of the birds fed mixtures with a higher proportion of faba bean (regardless of the variety) contained significantly less protein and more intramuscular fat (P < 0.05), whereas the leg muscles had higher content of crude ash (P < 0.05). The feeding model did not affect the content of the abovementioned components in the liver or the energy value of edible elements assessed. Conclusion. To sum up, faba bean (regardless of the variety) can be recommended for feeding broiler chickens, even at the respective proportion of 16/22% in the Starter/Grower mixtures, because it does not affect most meat and liver nutritional value parameters.