Effect of dietary inclusion of a sugarcane extract on growth performance of broiler chickens

Polyphenol-rich natural sugarcane extract can protect living cells against oxidative damage that could negatively affect broiler performance. The objective was to evaluate the effect of graded levels of a dietary sugarcane extract on the growth performance of broiler chickens under local conditions. A study was conducted by housing a total of 960 broilers (Cobb 500) in litter floor pens and feeding graded levels of dietary sugarcane extract (0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3%) from 0 to 35 days. Each of the four rooms (replications) was portioned into four pens (60 birds/pen). Each treatment was randomly assigned to four pens in each room. Birds were fed commercial starter (crumbles; day 0 to 18) and finisher (pellets; day 19 to 35) diets according to Cobb 500 broiler performance objectives, and water was given adlibitum throughout the study. Treatment diets were prepared by adding the respective levels of sugarcane extract to the commercial diets. Mortality was recorded daily, and body weight gain, feed intake, and feed-to-gain ratio were evaluated weekly (day 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35) on a pen basis. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA for randomized complete block design. Statistical significance was P ≤ 0.05. The dietary level of sugarcane extract did not significantly affect the broiler performance parameters each week and overall trial period and did not negatively affect Cobb 500 performance targets. Sugarcane extract levels of 0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3%, respectively, resulted in 2.268, 2.261, 2.242 and 2.227 kg body weight gain (P = 0.437) and 3.429, 3.417, 3.348 and 3.350 kg feed intake (P = 0.245) for the total trial period. Feed-togain ratios (P = 0.207) for the entire trial length were 1.51, 1.51, 1.49 and 1.50 for 0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3% sugarcane extract, respectively. Dietary sugarcane extract levels did not affect broiler performance.