Effects of inclusion of different levels of watermelon bug meal in broiler rations on feed intake, body weight changes and feed conversion ratio in North Kordofan, Sudan

This study was conducted in El-Obeid, North Kordofan State,Sudan with the objective of evaluating the effects of inclusion ofdifferent levels of watermelon bug meal (WMBM) as a substitute forsorghum grains in rations on broiler chick’s performance. One dayold unsexed 200 broiler chicks with an average weight of 40g /birdwere used in an experiment designed as completely randomizeddesign (CRD) with five treatments and four replicates. At thebeginning of the experiment the chicks were fed a pre-starter rationfor one week and then offered five rations prepared using (WMBM)at 0, 15, 30, 45 and 60 percent. The rations were offered twice a day.Chicks were weighed weekly during the experimental period. Thecollected data were analyzed using analysis of variance. The resultsindicated that feed intake of broiler chicks increased significantly (P<0.05) with inclusion of WMBM. The chicks consumed 67, 89, 94, 97and 97 g/day/bird when the WMBM constituted 0, 15, 30, 45 and 60percent in the rations respectively. The final body weight followedthe same trend where the groups weighed 1332.5, 2130, 2100.6,1922.5 and 1772.3 g for the birds that consumed rations of 0, 15, 30,45 and 60 percent (WMBM) respectively. Weight gains and feed conversion ratio were also significantly (P <0.05) improved. It was concluded that WMBM could replace sorghum grains as source of energy in broiler rations and it was recommended that more studies be carried out to investigate effects of inclusion of the WMBM on weight of cuts and meat quality.