Effect of the inclusion of Medicago sativa in feed chicken Cobb 500

Abstract

The present research was carried out at the Santa Ines farm of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences (FCA) of the Universidad Técnica de Machala (UTMACH), in the Province of El Oro (Ecuador), which objective was to evaluate the effect of the inclusion of Medicago sativa meal (alfarina) in broiler chicken Cobb 500 feed on productive parameters, carcass and sensory analysis. Poultry biosecurity standards established for open house systems were applied, trying to maintain comfort and well-being for the birds; a basic vaccination plan was used that consisted of the use of Gumboro “Intermediate strain” and New Castle “La Sota”. A Completely Random Design (CRD) was used, distributed in 5 treatments, with 4 replicates of 10 chickens, for a total of 40 birds per treatment (T). The T1 or control received a commercial diet (without inclusion of alfarine), while in T2, T3, T4 and T5, alfarine was included in the feed at 1, 2, 3 and 4 %, respectively. The variables studied were: accumulated feed and water consumption, feed conversion, mortality, live weight gain, carcass assessment parameters, abdominal fat thickness and organoleptic indicators. The data obtained were processed in the statistical program Statgraphics Centurión XV.I, performing an ANOVA analysis on all the quantitative variables studied, after complying with the assumptions of normality and homogeneity. To discriminate between means, Tukey’s significant difference procedure was used, with a confidence level of 95 %. The results show that alfalfa meal in the diet has no effect on the parameters evaluated, so this raw material can be used without problems in the feeding of broilers without exceeding 4 % inclusion.