Effect of the Nutrient Composition of Biodegraded Sweet Orange (Citrus sinensis) Fruit Peel on the Growth Performance of Starter Broiler Chicks

A twenty-eight (28) day feeding trial was conducted to determine the nutrient composition of biodegraded sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) fruit peel and its potential as an energy source in the nutrition of starter broiler chicks. Rumen content was collected from freshly slaughtered cattle and, fresh sweet orange fruit peels (SOP) were collected from orange fruit retailers. The rumen content was mixed with water at ratio 1kg: 1Land sieved to obtain rumen filtrate (RF). The fresh sweet orange peels were divided into four equal parts in weight; T1, T2, T3 and T4, and soaked in the rumen filtrate at ratio 1 kg: 1 L in air-tight bags for 12 h, 24 h, 36 h and 48 h, respectively. The biodegraded sweet orange peels (BSOP) were sun-dried to a moisture level of about 10%, milled and each used to replace 30% of maize in the control diet (CD) to obtain broiler starter test diets T1D, T2D, T3D and T4D, respectively. Chemical analyses were carried out to determine their proximate composition and fibre fractions while, metabolizable energy content was calculated. The results showed that BSOP contained CP, CF, EE, Ash, NFE and metabolizable energy in the range of 6.78%-7.30%, 10.36%-12.30%, 1.88%-2.65%, 7.79%-11.76%, 66.04%-72.46% and 2829.44 kcal/kg-3037.97 kcal/kg, respectively. The BSOP had ADF, NDF, ADL, hemicellulose and cellulose in the range of 19.50%-22.50%, 52.30%-56.70%, 6.80%-8.40%, 32.80%-34.20%and 12.90%-14.40%, respectively. A total of one hundred and eighty day old broiler chicks (Ross 308) were randomly assigned to five dietary treatments replicated three times with equal number and similar weights in a completely randomized design. The experimental diets had significant (p 0.05) and inferior values to the birds on the maize based control diet suggesting that time duration of 12 h, 24 h, 36 h and 48 h given for biodegradation of sweet orange peel could not enhance its nutrients. Biodegradation of sweet orange fruit peel for a time frame of 12 h to 48 h yielded a feed ingredient with a relatively high crude fibre, which lowered the growth rate of starter broiler chicks and cannot be used to formulate starter chicks diet at 30% maize replacement.