172 Utilization of golden pennycress meal in broiler diets with a flavor additive

Abstract

The objective of this pilot study is to evaluate performance in broiler chickens fed diets containing golden pennycress (GPC) meal, with and without a flavor additive. Cornish Cross three-day-old chicks (n=12) were randomly assigned one of three diets. Golden pennycress (Thlaspi arvense) is a winter cover crop grown in the Midwest that is rising in popularity as a cash crop used for biofuel production. After oil is pressed out of the seeds, a meal remains that is usually discarded. Incorporation of this meal (23% protein, 15% fat) into feedstuffs for broilers would be an efficient way to make biofuel production more sustainable. Diet one served as the control with no flavor additive or GPC meal, diet two contained 10% GPC meal, and diet three contained 10% GPC meal with 3% dried molasses. Each diet was administered for five days, a washout period of three days consisted of the same diet offered pre-study, after which a different diet was administered for the same time period. A washout between each diet change was to negate effects of sudden diet change. Applications of diets continued until all units had received all the treatments, or that the chicks had reached four weeks of age. Effectiveness of the diet and performance of the chickens was assessed through metrics like feed intake, water intake, body weight (BW), and feed conversion. A premeasured amount of feed and water was allotted each day and the amounts remaining were measured to assess feed and water intake. BW was recorded every day to track growth and to calculate feed conversion. Data were analyzed using the PROC MIXED procedure of SAS 9.4. No significant differences in weight gain were found between sequences of diets (P=0.8085). Carryover effects had no significant difference, meaning previous order of diet received did not impact the broiler’s performance (PX1= 0.5598, PX2=0.0.2497). Period yielded significant results, which was to be expected as the broilers were at different ages whilst receiving treatments (P=< 0.0001). However, all animals within a sequence were not different (P=0.6390) and contributed effectively zero variance. Results of this study indicate that golden pennycress can be included in broiler diets as there was no difference in performance and growth compared to the control diet (P=0.8118). The successful integration of golden pennycress meal into broiler diets promotes sustainable agricultural practices by utilizing a potentially unused product from a cover crop. As an alternative protein source, golden pennycress inclusion into broiler diets could reduce feed costs for poultry producers, while reducing waste from biofuel production. Further studies could assess long term effects of golden pennycress consumption on broiler carcass quality and performance at increased inclusion rates.