Comparison of three different diets for organic broilers: effects on performance and body condition
Résumé
1. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of 100% organic feed for organic broilers by comparing it with 80% organic feed (situation at the time of the experiment; 2004) and 95% organic feed (alternative). 2. Diets were optimised for nutritional value, allowing a maximum 10% increase in feed price when using 100% organic feedstuffs. This could only be achieved at the expense of the methionine content. 3. The broilers were reared from zero to three weeks of age in a broiler house in three groups of 500 broilers each on either an 80-, a 95-, or a 100% organic starter diet. At three weeks of age, the broilers were transferred to 15 pens with an outdoor run. Each treatment group of 500 broilers was divided into five groups of 95 broilers and fed an 80-, a 95, or a 100% organic finisher diet. 4. Broilers that received 100% organic feed reached a lower body weight and grew slower than broilers that received 95% organic feed, caused mainly by a lower feed intake. 5. Broilers that received 95 or 100% organic feed had a higher incidence of breast blisters than broilers that received 80% organic feed. 6. The cost price for meat from broilers that received 80% organic feed was 1.83 per kg live weight. The cost prices for broilers that received 95 and 100% organic feed were 1.84 (+0.8%) and 1.93 (+5.4%) per kg live weight respectively. 7. In conclusion, 95% organic feed led to a better performance than 100% organic feed in this study. Probably, the lower methionine content in the 100% organic feed negatively affected performance. The results for 95% organic feed were similar to 80% organic feed, except for a higher incidence of breast blisters.
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