Effects of corn germ meal on broiler performance and carcass yield

Two experiments were carried out with 1008 male Ag-Ross 508 broilers each. Experiment 1 was carried out from October 26th to November 1st, 2001 to evaluate the performance of broilers fed on increasing levels of corn germ meal (CGM) in the diets from 1 to 7 days of age. Experiment 2 was carried from January 24th to March 12th, 2002 to evaluate the performance and carcass yield from 8 to 47 days. The birds were allotted to a completely randomized design with four treatments (levels of CGM replacing corn in ration - 0%, 33%, 67% and 100%) and four replicates of 63 birds. The CGM was not a good ingredient for pre-starter phase. The recommended inclusion levels of CGM were 21.9% and 22.5% from 8 to 21 days and from 22 to 38 days, respectively. No restriction concerning the use of CGM for diets of broilers from 39 to 47 days of age is made.