Economic technical evaluation of three forage plants for feeding broilers

Abstract

Considering the high cost of commercial feed in poultry, the present investigation technically and economically evaluated the substitution of balanced feed by 20% fodder (yucca foliage Manihot esculenta, Chaya foliage Cnidoscolus acnotifolius and bore foliage Colocasia esculenta) in broilers Ross 308. This investigation was carried out from day 14 to day 49 of animal life. For this, four treatments were established, with water at will, corresponding to: 100% control treatment, treatment 1 balanced feed 80% and yucca foliage 20% flour, treatment 2 balanced feed 80% and chaya foliage 20% flour, and treatment 3 balanced feed 80% and bore foliage 20% flour. Only treatment 2 showed no significant difference in weight gain with the control treatment, possibly because the foliage of chaya Cnidoscolus aconitifolius has higher crude protein compared to other fodder (yucca foliage Manihot esculenta y bore foliage Colocasia esculenta). On the other hand, the control treatment showed thirteen percentage points higher than the other treatments in expenses, which shows that obtaining such fodder is more economical. Likewise, treatment 2 exhibited four percentage points in profit margin and one percentage point in internal rate of return above the control treatment. This highlights that the use of Cnidoscolus aconitifolius is a good technical and economic option in feeding broilers.