Effects of coated proteases on the performance, nutrient retention, gut morphology and carcass traits of broilers fed corn or sorghum based diets supplemented with soybean meal

Abstract The effects of proteases on the performance, nutrient retention, gut morphology and carcass traits of broilers fed corn or sorghum based diets supplemented with soybean meal were studied in this experiment. A total of 256 male Arbor Acre broilers (one-day-old and weighing 43.8 ± 1.31 g) were randomly allotted to 1 of 4 treatments in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement that included diet type (corn vs. sorghum) and protease supplementation (0 vs. 150 mg/kg). The feeding program consisted of a starter diet fed from d 1 to 21 and a finisher diet fed from d 22 to 42. Supplementation of protease significantly increased the ADG of broilers during the finisher phase (P   0.05). From d 19 to 21, the AME and DM, GE and nitrogen retention were all increased by supplementation with protease (P  24 h value and decreased breast muscle drip loss (P  24 h value while decreasing breast muscle drip loss. Furthermore, low tannin sorghum-based diets generated similar performance compared with broilers fed corn-based diets.