Effect of reconstitution of pearl millet with or without
enzymes on its utilization in broiler chickens was studied. The pearl millet grains were reconstituted by adding water to raise the moisture level to 30%, followed by storage in sealed
plastic buckets with or without feed
enzymes (0.5 g/kg) for 21 days at room temperature (25 degrees C). Subsequently, the grains were sun-dried to reduce the moisture content up to 10% to avoid mould growth. Nine dietary treatments were formulated incorporating pearl millet either raw with or without
enzymes or reconstituted with or without
enzymes in maize-soya based control diet replacing maize at 50 and 75% levels. The birds fed on diets containing
enzyme reconstituted pearl millet accrued higher
body weight than maize based control diet. Addition of
enzymes to raw pearl-millet based diet improved the
body weight gain significantly. The reconstitution of pearl millet with or without
enzymes increased (P < 0.01) the dietary
nitrogen corrected apparent metabolizable energy (AMEn) values and the highest improvement (6.11%) was recorded in diets containing pearl millet reconstituted with
enzymes at 75% level of maize replacement. The percent
nitrogen retention in pearl millet based diets was comparable to maize based control diet. It may be concluded that the supplementation of the feed
enzymes or reconstitution of pearl millet may improve the utilization of pearl millet in broiler chickens.