Palm Kernel Meal A cheap vegetable protein source in Pakistan: Palm Kernel Meal An alternative to soybean meal for poultry feed industry in Pakistan

A study was planned to know the effect of various levels of palm kernel meal (PKM) on broilers. 360 day old Hubbard broiler chicks were used in study. They were divided randomly into twelve groups of thirty birds each. Four experimental diets containing 22% CP and 3000 Kcals/kg ME at starter phase and 20% CP and 3000 Kcals/kg ME at finisher phase, were prepared. Corn and soybean meal were gradually replaced with PKM. Each diet was allotted to three experiment units at random. Experiment was conducted for a period of 35 days (21 days for starter and 14 days for finisher phase). Records of weekly body weight and feed consumption were maintained. At the end of experiment, total weight gain, feed consumption, dressing percentage and organ weights were calculated. The highest body weight gain was recorded in bird fed on diet B which contained 5% PKM. Average feed consumption of diet A was less than other diets. The highest FCR was noted from the birds fed on diet D (containing 15% PKM) while the lowest FCR was noted from the birds fed on diet A (containing 5% PKM). Average dressing percentage of chicks were 65.03, 63.80, 66.01 and 67.12.