ABSTRACT
The nutritional quality of broiler starter feed is a critical factor influencing the growth, health, and productivity of young broilers. A thorough understanding of the proximate and mineral composition of commercially available broiler starter feeds is essential to ensure that they meet the nutritional requirements of broilers, thereby optimizing their performance and reducing the risk of nutritional deficiencies."
Three feed commercially available broiler starter Feed sold in Benin city were collected and coded A,B and C which represent Happy chicken starter, Chunkun starter and Ultima starter respectively. The feeds were analysed using standard laboratory methods. The proximate analysis was carried out using the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC,2015) methods, which included moisture content (AOAC,2015), crude protein (AOAC,2015), ether extract (AOAC,2015), crude fiber (AOAC,2015), and ash content (AOAC, 2015). The mineral composition was determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) for macro-minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, and potassium, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for micro-minerals such as zinc, iron, and chromium. the results were expressed on a dry matter basis."
The result reveals that there was no significant (p<0.05) different in the dry matter content of the three feed with values of 93.85%,93.93% and 94.32 which falls within range of the recommended value.The crude protein content of 16.80%,17.21% and 16.92% for feed A,B and C respectively has no significant different (p<0.05) but all three feed fails to meet the recommended value, the also shows that all three feed fails to meet the calcium, sodium,magnesium and iron recommended values for broiler starter Feed.Therefore the result reveals that the proximate and mineral composition of the three commercially available broiler starter Feed sold in Benin city differed significantly from the recommendations
