Nutrient Digestibility In Organic Slow-Growing Broilers Fed With Grass And Chicory As Supplements

Summary

"At the end of an experiment with organic broilers reared under free-range conditions, a digestibility experiment was performed with a slow growing hybrid I657 including six treatments: diet C (control), C + grass, C +chicory; diet F1, F1 (reduced protein) + grass, F1+chicory. No difference was found in feed intake of the diets, however, the intake of C + chicory and F1 + chicory was significantly higher (P<0.01) than for groups with no access to forage material (C + F1). The digestibility experiment showed a variation between diets as a higher nitrogen retention was recorded for all F1 diets given both supplements, chicory and grass compared to control diets (P<0.05). This indicate that the use of low protein diets in organic broiler production, with access to an attractive forage area, can reduce excess nitrogen excretion on outdoor areas, where diets with higher protein content result in higher N excretion."