Effects of partial substitution of soybean meal with high protein sunflower meal in broiler diets

A total of 210 one day-old male Ross-308 broiler chicks allotted in 7 dietary treatment groups of 30 birds each, balanced for body weight, were reared to 49 days of age and fed with diets consisting different HiSFM (CP-45.4%) and SBM (CP-46.0%) levels. During the starter period (1-10 d) diets contained HiSFM from 5 to 15% and SBM from 20 to 29.9%; in the grower period (11-24 d) diets contained HiSFM from 10 to 25% and SBM from 5.5 to 20% and finally in the finishing (25-49 d) period - HiSFM was from 15 to 26.5% and SBM was from 0 to 11.3%. The results showed that at 49 days of age, broilers attained a body weight of 3010 +/- 91.9 g (group 5) and 3180 +/- 112 g (group 6), with nonsignificant differences among groups (P>0.05). The inclusion of higher dietary HiSFM levels in rations of broiler chickens balanced for L-lysine did not pose risk for the growth performance of birds. The inclusion of HiSFM in broiler diets could provide about or more than half of necessary crude protein during the grower (52.79%) and finisher period (53.55 - 61.70%). Recommended dietary HiSFM level for the starter period is up to 10%, for the grower period - up to 20% and for the finisher period - up to 23%. The replacement of 10% SBM with an equal amount of HiSFM reduces the costs of diets by 3.74% to 4.61% depending on the feeding period.