Inclusion of milled canola grain in the diet of broilers

Abstract The effect of milled canola grain (MCG) in the diet of broiler chickens, from 1 to 42 days old, on performance, organ weight, biochemical profile, and carcass yield was evaluated. A total of 660 one-day-old male Cobb® broilers were distributed in a completely randomized design with six levels of inclusion of MCG in the diet (0; 5; 10; 15; 20, and 25%), totaling six treatments with five replicates of 22 birds. The canola used for the experiment was ground using a hammer mill with a 4.5 mm sieve to obtain a DGM of 955 µm. Performance data, organ index, blood biochemical profile, carcass yields, and cut up weights were evaluated. The data were analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA), and when there was significance Dunnett’ test was used to compare the inclusion levels the control diet. An effect was seen on mean weights and on feed conversion based on the inclusion level of MCG in the diets. The birds that received 20 and 25% inclusion of canola in the diet presented a worse performance in relation to that of the control. For the other variables analyzed, no effect of the treatments was observed when compared with the control (p > 0.05). It was concluded that the inclusion level of MCG in the diet of up to 15% can be used without losses to the performance of birds and without influencing the metabolism of the birds.