The Effect of Graded Levels of Spent Brewers’ Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) on Growth Performance of Broiler Chickens

Abstract

The rising prices of livestock feeds and the scarcity of conventional proteins and energy concentrates for the formulation of feeds have forced the animal scientists to search for alternative, cheaper and readily available protein and energy sources. Methods: Five experimental diets containing 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20% spent brewers’ yeast used to replace soya bean were formulated and used to feed broiler chickens for 50 days. Two hundred 14 day old “sayed” broiler chickens were used to determine the growth performance and economics of broiler fed the formulated feeds. The experiments were in a completely randomized design with the five treatments each replicating four times with 40 birds per treatment and 10 birds per replicate. Results: The average live weight of broiler chicken ranged from 1963-2063 g in each dietary group but were not significantly affected by dietary treatment (p > 0.05). The average daily feed intake was however significantly affected (p <0.05) by the dietary treatment. Feed cost/kg weight gain was lowest at the 20% level of spent yeast replacement (N279.92) and highest at the 10% level of replacement (330.87) but was not significantly affected (p > 0.05) by the dietary treatments. Conclusion: The results showed that spent brewers’ yeast can be used to replace soya bean as protein source in broiler feeds with no adverse effect on growth performance resulting in reduced cost of feeds which will then translate in cheaper birds for consumers and a higher profit margin for poultry farmers.