Potentials of rice husk as energy supplement in poultry broiler production

Energy is a fundamental recipe for all life forms. All living things including poultry require energy for cellular activity, growth and reproduction. Energy is basically derived from food nutrient sources such as carbohydrates, excess proteins, fat and oil both of plant and animal sources. The cost of raising poultry has continue to increase due to increasing cost of feedstuff and the poor genetic make-up of birds which confers some breeds with very feed conversion efficiency. A total number of 20day old chicks were used to investigate the effects of inclusion of rice husk as Dietary Supplement in a formulated finisher feed, on growth performance characteristics. Four different levels (0%, 0.6%, 1.0%, and 1.4%) of formulated feed with rice husk as dietary supplement were evaluated in the experiment. Daily feed intake, feed conversion ratio, body weight gain and mortality rate were assessed in all the treatment groups evaluated. The results showed that mean body weight and feed conversion after 8 weeks for diets did not differ significantly (p<0.05). Results of analysis of the four different levels of concentration of rice husk, the control (0%) had the highest body weight followed by 1.4%, then 1.0% and 0.6% after the experiment respectively. In respect to the feed intake, it was observed that treatments with the highest concentration or level of rice husk (1.4%), had the highest feed intake amongst other treatments. This research work showed that rice husk could economically replace other energy sources to a certain extent in the broiler ration. Thus, the inclusion of fibre (rice husk) in feed dilutes energy concentration in the plant fibre and making same available to the poultry for increased growth.