Effect of Different Combinations of Tuna Fishmeal, Meat Meal with Bone, and Soybean Meal upon Growth Rate and Utilization of Feed by Broilers in the Starting and Fattening Periods

Abstract

Four studies of six evaluations were conducted during the starting and fattening periods of broiler chicks. Different combinations of soybean meal, tuna fishmeal, and meat meal were evaluated. Net gain in weight and feed utilization were used as criteria for comparison. Proportions from 2:1 to 1:2 of soybean and tuna fishmeals gave best results in preliminary screening studies. In successive studies, when diets were equalized as to nitrogen, calories, phosphorus, and calcium, in which the latter did not exceed the 1-percent tolerance level, high quality meat meal containing 50-percent crude protein satisfactorily substituted up to 75 percent of the tuna fishmeal in the diets without adversely affecting the overall performance of the birds. The amount of sodium chloride supplied by the highest level of tuna fishmeal used in this study did not cause apparent adverse effects.