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Evaluation of new millet varieties as a poultry feed ingredient
by Danny Singh, Senior Scientist
Department Primary Industries and Fisheries, Queensland
December 2004
RIRDC Publication No 04/173 RIRDC Project No DAQ-302A
The demand for cereals as protein and energy sources for stock feed and human consumption is forecast to increase dramatically with consequent increases in their prices expected. It is therefore essential that research be undertaken to find alternative feed sources for the chicken meat industry in order to reduce the cost of feed and maintain an internationally competitive chicken meat industry.
The use of non-conventional feed ingredients will decrease the dependence of the poultry industry on cereal grains such as wheat and sorghum.
Pearl millet has been identified as a suitable alternative crop to sorghum in low rainfall and sandy areas in Queensland. In the United States of America, pearl millet is identified as being the new feed grain. The potential benefits from the application of existing knowledge and from further research on pearl millet are substantial for this feed grain crop in warm-temperate agriculture. New pearl millet hybrids now being developed in Australia have never been evaluated as a grain for poultry.
The main objective of this project was to examine the potential of three elite pearl millet hybrids (PM31, PM3 and PM4) as poultry feed ingredients. The pearl millet hybrids were grown at Biloela Research Station, Biloela, Queensland, and clean grain was then transported to DPI&F’s Poultry Research and Development Centre, Alexandra Hills, for evaluation. Chemical analyses were performed on these three grains to measure their protein, fat, fibre, starch, phosphorus, calcium and amino acid contents. Feeding experiments were conducted on broiler chickens to measure the metabolisable energy content and the digestibility of amino acids in the three pearl millet hybrids.
In comparison to sorghum, the millet hybrids had higher protein, fat and neutral-detergent fibre. Pearl millet hybrids contained nearly 2% more protein than sorghum. The fat content of the millet hybrids was more than twice that of sorghum. The fibre content of hybrid PM31 was lower than that of PM3 and PM4 but was higher than sorghum. The starch content and gross energy (GE) content of the three elite pearl millet hybrids were the same. Condensed tannin was not detected in any of the three elite pearl millet hybrids. Linolenic acid (ClS:3n-3) comprised 3% of the total fatty acid in the elite pearl millet hybrids, which is higher than other cereal grains. The ratio of n-6:n-3 fatty acid of the three elite hybrids were 13.72, 12.68 and 14.13 for PM31, PM3 and PM4 respectively, compared to sorghum’s 28.43.
The total amino acid profile of the three elite pearl millet hybrids is much more suitable for poultry diets than sorghum. Pearl millet hybrids contained 50% more lysine, methionine, threonine and tryptophan than sorghum. Except for the protein content, where PM31 had slightly less protein, the three elite hybrids had very similar chemical compositions. The fat content was 6.4% and fibre 2.0%.
The amino acid profile of PM31 was poorer than PM3 and PM4. The lysine content of PM31 was 2.83 g/kg compared to 3.18 g/kg and 3.09 g/kg for PM3 and PM4 respectively. The elite pearl millet hybrids had at least a 0.6 MJ/kg higher energy content than sorghum. The digestibility coefficients for most amino acids in sorghum were found to be within the range reported by Ravindran et al.
(1998). The digestibilities of cystine, lysine and threonine in the elite pearl millets were higher than that of sorghum, whereas the digestibilities of the other amino acids in the elite pearl millet hybrids were very similar to sorghum.
The results suggest that the three pearl millet hybrids could be used as feed ingredients in broiler diets. However, further research on the upper inclusion levels of pearl millet in broiler diets, together with the effects of feeding pearl millet on carcass quality and yield, and on the interaction of enzymes on the utilisation of nutrients in the millet hybrids, is warranted.
 
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