Abstract
The impact of various concentrations of date waste on productive performance, production index, digestibility of nutrients, blood serum biochemical constituents, carcass characteristics and inner body organs was investigated using 140, 21-day-old Ross-308 male broiler chickens. Four concentrations of date waste (0, 50, 100 and 200 g/kg diets) were included in isocaloric (approximate to 12.80 MJ/kg) and isonitrogenous (approximate to 175 g/kg CP) mash diets to replace the same percentage of wheat bran from 21-40 days of age. Chickens were randomly distributed amongst the 4 treatments utilising 7 replicates of 5 male broiler chickens per replicate. Inclusion of date waste at 50 g/kg significantly increased growth rate of broilers from 21 to 40 days of age, and had an improved feed conversion ratio and production index from 21 to 40 days of age. However, date waste at 200 g/kg did not adversely influence the growth rate, FCR, production index, digestibility of nutrients except for protein digestibility and the absolute and relative weight of dressed carcasses of broilers compared to the date waste-free diet. As a conclusion, date waste can be included in broiler diets up to 200 g/kg from 21 to 40 days of age without adverse effects on growth performance, digestibility of nutrients, blood serum constituents, and carcass parameters. However, the best growth performance and production index was obtained with a diet containing date waste at 50 g/kg.