UTILISATION OF MILLET AND SORGHUM IN PLACE OF MAIZE IN BROILER CHICKEN DIETS: A REVIEW

Abstract

Maize is the major source of energy constituting 50-60% in poultry diets and has a greater acceptance. However, inadequate production of this grain and the intense competition for maize between man, industries and livestock especially in the tropics has pushed its price to an alarming height, making poultry products to be expensive. The nutrients profile for maize, sorghum and millet are crude protein (7.0, 8.0 and 10.0% min), metabolizable energy (3350, 3288 and 2560 kcal/kg min), crude fibre (3.0, 5.0 and 8.0% max) and ether extract (4.0, 3.0 and 4.0% max) respectively. Several experiments conducted have shown that there was no significant difference in most of the performance parameters among the three energy sources. This review revealed that performance of broiler chickens were not affected by the dietary levels of sorghum and millet. Sorghum and millet are suitable alternatives to maize considering their cost, availability and nutritive value. It is therefore concluded that sorghum and millet could effectively replace 100% maize in the diets of broiler chickens without compromising performance and even with a reduction in cost of production.