Evaluation of the Feeding Value of Waste Fig, With and Without Enzyme Supplementation, in Broiler Chickens

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the feeding value of waste fig along with its effect on broilers, performance. In the first experiment, the AMEn content of fig was determined through total collection method using 10 adult Leghorn cockerels. In the second experiment, 240 day-old male Ross broiler chicks were randomly alloted to 6 experimental groups of 4 replicates of 10 chicks each. The treatments consisted of diets of different levels of fig (0, 5 and 10%) along with two enzyme levels (0 and 0.04%). According to the first experiment, the AMEn content of the waste fig was 2640 kcal/kg. The results of the second experiment indicated that the use of fig wastage did not have any adverse effect on such performance traits as body weight, daily gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio. Adding enzyme to the diets significantly increased feed intake in a 0-21 day period (p< 0.05), but it did not have exhibit any other significant effect on performance traits. There was no significant interaction between dietary fig and enzyme levels. Also, the results indicated significant effects of fig on a few blood parameters at 42 days of age. Chicks fed diets containing different levels of fig showed significantly lower blood glucose (p<0.01) and triglyceride (p<0.05). With increasing the level of fig in the diet, the levels of cholesterol and LDL decreased (p< 0.01) while the level of HDL being linearly increased (p<0.01). Also, enzyme supplementation of the diets didn't reveal any significant effect on blood parameters at 42 days of age. There was no significant effect of interaction between dietary fig and enzyme levels on blood parameters. This experiment revealed that waste fig can be added to the broiler diets, at least up to 10 percent, without display of any adverse effects on broiler performance.