Effect of Rubus coreanus Miquel byproducts on performance and hormone secretion of crossbred chicks

The present study was undertaken to investigate the feeding Rubus coreanus Miquel byproducts (RCMB) on the performance, blood composition and hormone concentrations of crossbred chicks. Day-old male crossbred chicks (384) were allocated to four RCMB (0, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0%) level in the diets with six replication having 64 chicks in each treatment. Four dietary energy (3,000, 3,100, 3,100 and 3,200 kcal kg¹ ME) and CP (22, 21, 19 and 17%) levels were provided to the starting (0-2 weeks), growing (3-5 weeks), growing-finishing (6-8 weeks) and finishing (9-10 weeks) period. No significant performances were observed during the starting and growing periods but weight gain and feed intake were increased in the gro win g-finishing and finishing period. Thus the total weight gain and feed intake were significantly higher in RCMB treatment group as compared to those of the control (p<0.05), except feed conversion. Triglycérides were significantly lower in birds fed 1.0% RCMB compared to those in the controls and in the 0.25% RCMB fed birds (p<0.05). Total protein concentrations were not different among the treatments, but albumin concentration was increased in the 1.0% RCMB treatment compared to those of the other treatments (p<0.05). The melatonin, growth hormone and testosterone concentration was increased significantly (p<0.05) in RCMB treatment than that of the control. Therefore, the inoculation of 1% level of RCMB in the diet of crossbred chicks appeared to enhance the performance and hormone secretion. Meanwhile, further follow-up studies should be conducted to investigate RCMB additions of more than 1% in chicken diets.