determination of nutritional values of amaranthus grain on the broiler performance

this study was carried out to determine nutritive value and the effect of amaranthus grain on performance and carcass characteristics of broiler chicks. chemical composition of amaranthus grain including dry matter, crude protein, crude fiber, crude ash, and gross energy were 91.04, 17.50, 8.40, 2.70, 5.41, percent and 4515 kcal/kg respectively. metabolizable energy content of amaranthus grain measured using adult cockerels was 1807 kcal/kg. in this experiment 400 day -old arian broiler (unsex) was used in a completely randomized design. there were 4 dietary experiments included 0, 5, 10, and 15 percent of raw amaranthus grain, fed from 0 to 21 and 22 to 42 days of age to broiler chickens. no significant difference was observed in feed intake among treatments in 21 and 42 day of age. the result of experiment showed that control group (0 percent amaranthus grain) had higher body weight gain (p ≤0.05) and also, lower feed conversion ratio than other groups (5, 10, and 15 percent of raw amaranthus grain). the ration included 5 and 10 percent of raw amaranthus grain had significantly (p ≤0.05) higher breast weight compare to control group. the results of this experiment indicated that although raw amaranthus grain increased breast weight, but did not improve performance. it is recommended that level of amaranthus grain should be less than 5 percent in broiler diet