Phytase as a Strategy to Reduce Broiler Feeding Costs During Scenario of High Ingredient Price

ABSTRACT

The use of enzymes is a concrete fact in broiler feeding. The global economic situation has been undergoing major changes, especially in the cost of agricultural commodities such as corn and soybean meal, the main ingredients in broiler diets in many parts of the world. This study aimed to assess the effect of increasing doses of phytase by assigning an optimized non-linear increasing nutritional matrix to the diet of broilers from 1 to 42 days of age, using economic production indicators as response variables. 900 one-day-old chicks were distributed in a randomized block design with six treatments and ten replications. Different nutritional matrices were studied: a positive control diet without phytase; diets with increasing levels of this enzyme (350, 500, 1,000, 1,500 FTU); and a negative control diet (-100 kcal/kg EMA) without phytase supplementation. Performance from 1 to 42 days of age and economic viability were assessed. It was observed that the negative control and the overdose (1,500 FTU) of phytase showed worse feed conversion than the positive control diet. In the economic analysis, there was a reduction in feed costs with increasing doses of the enzyme, as well as lower production costs per carcass kilo. The data found in this study shows that performance indicators do not always reflect economic efficiency responses. Specifically, the production cost was lower in broiler diets (1 to 42 d) formulated with increasing doses of phytase (up to 1,500 FTU kg-1).

Keywords:
Enzymes; cost; feed; phytase