Faba Beans as an Alternative Protein Source for Broiler Chicken Feed

A lower price on poultry meat, compared with other meats (beef, pork etc.), affects the increasing demand for poultry meat. The productivity and production cost of broiler chickens are directly related to the amount of feed fed, the proportion of crude protein in the feed, and the biological value and price of the feed. The EU produces only 30% of the protein crops used for feed; thus, the large import of protein feed crops contribute to agricultural instability and production cost increases. To reduce the consumption of imported protein feeds and the production cost of poultry meat, it is necessary to assess opportunities to use a domestic protein crop as faba beans. The research aim is to identify economic gains from the production of broiler chicken meat if using domestic faba beans in broiler chicken diets. Specific research tasks are as follows: 1) to identify the effect of the use of faba beans on the cost of broiler chicken feed; 2) to assess changes in broiler chicken productivity due to faba bean diets. It is economically efficient to replace soybean protein with domestically produced faba beans in the feed ration for broiler chickens; it provides an adequate amount of crude protein and reduces the feed conversion ratio and production costs. A faba bean ration in the broiler chicken diet provides the broilers with necessary nutrients, thereby contributing to their growth and increases in their live weight, reducing feed costs and resulting in increases in economic return.