Performance and Nutrient Utilization of Broilers Supplemented Mineral Premix without Cobalt, Iron and Copper

Ninety, day old broiler chicks were arranged into 5X3X6 pattern to investigate the effect of exclusion of Cobalt, Iron and Copper from the mineral mixture. Five dietary groups (T1 to T5) were assigned basal diets containing 2800 kcal ME/kg and 22% CP (Starter) and 20% (Finisher) for a total duration of 6 weeks. The chicks in T1 were fed commercial mineral mixture, T2 were supplemented with mineral mixture prepared with laboratory reagent grade minerals while chicks of T3, T4 and T5 were fed laboratory reagent grade mineral mixture without Cobalt, Iron and Copper, respectively. No significant difference was observed in weight gain, feed intake, FER and PI of broilers fed various mineral supplements. Significantly (p<0.05) higher nitrogen and energy retention (%) was recorded in broilers (T5) fed mineral supplement without Copper compared to broilers fed (T1) commercial mineral supplement (77.18±0.28 vs. 70.50±2.70 and 81.86±1.04 vs. 75.71±2.36). It was concluded that Cobalt, Iron and Copper can be safely excluded from mineral supplement in areas where the feed resources are rich in these elements.