Effect of Dietary Almond Hull on Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility, Organ Weight, Caecum Microbial Counts, and Noxious Gas Emission in Broilers.

This study was conducted to investigate the impact of a diet supplemented with almond hulls on growth performance, nutrient utilization, cecum microbiota, noxious gas emissions, and the organ weight of broilers. A total of 540, one-day-old Ross-308 broilers were used in this 35-day-long feeding trial. All birds were divided into 3 treatment groups of 10 replicates, each with 18 chicks (18 birds/ replication), according to a completely randomized design. The Tukey's test was used to compare the differences among the 3 treatments. The dietary treatments were a basal diet supplemented with 0%, 1%, and 2% almond hull, respectively. The body weight gain (BWG) of broilers supplemented with almond hull improved (p<0.05) during days 1-7 and in the overall period, whereas it tended to increase (p<0.10) during days 22-35. Additionally, feed intake (FI) tended to increase (p<0.10) during days 1-7 and in the overall experiment period. However, the feed conversion ratio (FCR) remained unchanged (p>0.05) through the supplementation of almond hull up to 2%. The nutrient digestibility of nitrogen and energy tended to increase (p<0.10), whereas the digestibility of dry matter was unchanged (p>0.05). Inclusion of almond hull in broiler diets showed a tendency to decrease (p<0.10) caecal Salmonella count. Moreover, broilers fed a diet supplemented with almond hull decreased (p<0.05) their excreted NH3 emissions. Similar (p>0.05) organ weights were found in broilers with a 2% almond hull-supplemented diet as compared to the control diet. In summary, incorporating up to 2% of almond hulls into broiler diets can enhance growth performance, increase nutrient digestibility, and reduce both microbial count and noxious gas emissions, thereby establishing almond hulls as a promising ingredient for broiler feed.