Influence of Pearl Millet (Pennisetum glaucum) and Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana) as Alternative Energy Sources on Nutrient Utilization in Mewari Chicken

Introduction

Poultry production is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the livestock industry and plays a pivotal role in ensuring food and nutritional security by supplying high-quality animal protein in the form of meat and eggs. Owing to its short generation interval, high feed conversion efficiency and relatively low production cost, poultry farming has emerged as an important enterprise for improving rural livelihoods and enhancing farmers' income. In developing countries such as India, indigenous poultry production contributes significantly to household nutrition and socio-economic development, particularly among resource-poor and smallholder farmers. Indigenous chicken breeds possess several desirable characteristics, including better adaptability to harsh environmental conditions, greater disease resistance, efficient utilization of locally available feed resources and superior meat quality compared with commercial broiler strains. Feed accounts for nearly 65-70% of the total cost of poultry production, with cereal grains constituting the major source of dietary energy. Maize is widely recognized as the preferred energy source in poultry diets due to its high metabolizable energy content, excellent palatability and superior digestibility. However, increasing competition between livestock, food and industrial sectors, coupled with fluctuations in maize availability and market price, has necessitated the exploration of alternative cereal grains that are economical, locally available and nutritionally efficient.

Identifying suitable substitutes for maize is particularly important in arid and semi-arid regions where climate variability often limits maize production (Banergee et al., 2013) [2] . Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) is an important cereal crop cultivated extensively in the dryland regions of India because of its exceptional tolerance to drought, high temperature and poor soil fertility (Meena et al., 2021) [11] . Compared with maize, pearl millet contains relatively higher crude protein, appreciable levels of essential amino acids, minerals and bioactive compounds, making it a promising alternative energy source for poultry feeding (BIS, 2024) [4] . However, the presence of anti-nutritional factors such as tannins and phytic acid may influence nutrient availability and performance, necessitating systematic evaluation under practical feeding conditions (Nour et al., 2014) [13] . Previous studies have demonstrated that moderate inclusion of pearl millet in poultry diets can maintain growth performance, improve nutrient digestibility and reduce feed cost without adversely affecting bird health. Nevertheless, excessive inclusion may reduce nutrient utilization because of the presence of antinutritional factors such as tannins and phytates, which interfere with nutrient availability and digestive enzyme activity (Raheem et al., 2021) [14] . Finger millet (Eleusine coracana) is another climateresilient cereal cultivated widely in tropical and subtropical regions. It is valued for its high calcium content, dietary fibre, antioxidant compounds and remarkable storage stability. The crop can withstand prolonged drought and marginal growing conditions, making it an important component of sustainable agriculture in rainfed ecosystems. Although finger millet has considerable nutritional potential, its utilization in poultry feeding remains limited due to relatively higher fibre content and the presence of phenolic compounds that may influence nutrient digestibility at higher dietary inclusion levels. Consequently, systematic evaluation of appropriate inclusion levels is essential before recommending its large-scale incorporation into poultry diets (Bot et al., 2021) [5] . Nutrient utilization is a critical determinant of poultry productivity because efficient digestion and absorption of dietary nutrients directly influence growth performance, feed conversion efficiency, protein deposition and overall economic returns. Assessment of nutrient digestibility, nitrogen retention, protein efficiency ratio and energy efficiency ratio provide a comprehensive understanding of the biological value of alternative feed ingredients. Such information is particularly important for indigenous chickens, whose digestive responses to unconventional cereal grains may differ from those of commercial poultry strains. Although several studies have investigated the use of pearl millet and finger millet in broiler chickens, scientific information regarding their influence on nutrient utilization in indigenous Mewari chicken is scarce. Considering the increasing need to reduce feed costs through the use of locally available cereal grains while maintaining optimum nutrient utilization, the present study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of dietary replacement of maize with graded levels of pearl millet and finger millet on nutrient intake, digestibility coefficients of nutrients, nitrogen balance, protein efficiency ratio and energy efficiency ratio in Mewari chicken. It was hypothesized that partial replacement of maize with these alternative cereals would improve nutrient utilization efficiency without compromising the nutritional status of the birds.

Material and Methods

A total of two hundred apparently healthy, day-old, unsexed Mewari chicks were randomly selected and divided into five dietary treatments, each comprising four replicates of ten birds (40 birds per treatment) and fed five dietary treatments consisted of a maize-based control diet (T 1 ), diets containing 20% (T 2 ) and 40% (T 3 ) pearl millet and diets containing 20% (T 4 ) and 40% (T 5 ) finger millet as partial replacements for maize. Day old Mewari chicks were procured from Department of Animal Production, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Udaipur (Raj.). Prior to the arrival of the chick, the brooder house, equipments and utensils were thoroughly cleaned and disinfected with phenol and fumigated using formaldehyde gas to ensure optimum hygienic condition. The chicks were individually weight on the arrival and randomly allotted to the experimental treatment groups. Rice husk was used as litter material, with an initial litter dept of inches, which were subsequently increased by 0.5 inch as required during the experimental period. The birds were reared under unform deep litter management conditions. Feed and fresh drinking water were provided ad libitum throughout the experimental period. Standard management practices, including vaccination, sanitation, litter management, deworming and biosecurity measures were followed uniformly for all treatment groups to minimize environmental variation. A metabolism trial was conducted at the end of the experiment (20 weeks of age) to evaluate to study nutrient utilization. Two birds from each replicate were randomly selected, giving a total of ten birds per treatment (50 birds in total) and transferred individually to metabolic cages equipped for separate collection of feed residues and excreta. Birds were allowed an adaptation period of seven days followed by a three-day quantitative collection period. During three days collection period, quantity of daily feed offered, feed refusal and total excreta voided were recorded and taken for nutrient analysis. Representative samples of feed and excreta were collected, dried and subjected to proximate analysis for determination of nutrient digestibility. Digestibility coefficients of dry matter, crude protein, crude fibre, ether extract and nitrogen-free extract were estimated as per AOAC (2005) [1] .

The protein efficiency ratio (PER) was calculated by following equation:

Protein efficiency ratio = Weight gain (g) Total protein intake (g)

The energy efficiency ratio (EER) was estimated by using the following formula:

Energy efficiency ratio = Total Weight gain (g) Total Metabolizable energy intake × 100

Statistical analysis

The experimental design was conducted by using a completely randomized design (CRD) and the data pertaining to various parameters obtained during growth and metabolic trial of the present study was analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) described by Snedecor and Cochran (1994) [16] .

Results and Discussion

A metabolism trial was conducted at the end of experiment (20 weeks of age). The data pertaining to nutrient intake and digestible nutrient intake in Mewari chicken is described in Table 1. Dietary energy sources significantly (P<0.05) influenced nutrient utilization parameters. The digestibility coefficient of nutrients as influenced by feeding of energy sources at different levels are presented in Table-2. Dry matter intake (DMI) varied significantly among dietary treatments. Birds fed the control diet (T 1 ) recorded the highest DMI (67.32 g/bird/day), whereas the lowest intake was observed in birds receiving 40% finger millet (T 4 ; 63.08 g/bird/day). Despite the lower DMI, the highest dry matter digestibility coefficient was observed in T 2 (63.49%), which was significantly (P<0.05) superior to T 3 , Tand T 5 , indicating improved digestive efficiency at 20% pearl millet inclusion. The reduced digestibility observed in T 4 (60.42%) suggests that higher levels of finger millet may have limited nutrient availability, possibly due to its comparatively higher fibre content and the presence of antinutritional factors. These findings corroborate the observations of Tyagi et al. (2004) [17] , who reported reduced dry matter metabolizability with increasing levels of finger millet in broiler diets. Likewise, Raju et al. (2003) [15] and Elangovan et al. (2004) [6] reported better dry matter utilization in pearl millet-based diets. Crude protein intake was significantly lower in Tthan in the remaining treatments, reflecting the lower feed consumption in this group. The highest crude protein digestibility coefficient (70.92%) was recorded in T 2 , while Texhibited the lowest value (66.99%). Similarly, digestible crude protein intake was highest in T 1 and Tand lowest in T 4 . The superior protein digestibility observed in T 2 may be attributed to improved nutrient synchronization and efficient digestion of pearl millet-based diets, whereas reduced protein utilization at higher finger millet inclusion could be associated with decreased nutrient availability. Similar improvements in protein digestibility with pearl millet feeding have been reported by Raju et al. (2003) [15] and Elangovan et al. (2004) [6] . Crude fibre utilization was also significantly influenced by dietary treatments. Although crude fibre intake remained comparable among most treatments, the highest crude fibre digestibility coefficient was recorded in T 3 (72.93%), followed by T 2 (70.20%). This indicates enhanced utilization of fibre fractions in pearl millet-based diets, particularly at 40% inclusion. In contrast, birds fed finger millet diets exhibited comparatively lower fibre digestibility. The improved fibre utilization may be associated with the structural characteristics of pearl millet fibre, which is relatively more fermentable than that of finger millet. Ether extract intake and digestible ether extract intake differed significantly (P<0.05) among treatments. Birds receiving 40% finger millet (T 5 ) recorded the highest ether extract digestibility (81.55%), which was statistically comparable with T 2 but significantly higher than T 3 . Improved lipid digestibility in finger millet-containing diets may be associated with enhanced fat utilization efficiency; however, this improvement was insufficient to compensate for the lower digestibility of dry matter and crude protein observed at higher finger millet inclusion. Nitrogen-free extract (NFE) digestibility was significantly influenced by dietary energy sources, with the highest digestibility coefficient observed in T 4 (75.10%), followed by T 5 , T 2 and T 1 , while the lowest value was recorded in T 3 (72.09%). Nevertheless, the overall differences among treatments were relatively small, indicating that dietary carbohydrate utilization remained largely unaffected by millet inclusion. Nitrogen intake and nitrogen balance were significantly higher in T 1 than in Tgroup, while intermediate values were recorded in the remaining treatments. Importantly, nitrogen balance remained positive in all dietary groups, indicating satisfactory nitrogen retention and efficient utilization of dietary protein irrespective of the energy source. Dietary treatments also significantly affected nutrient utilization efficiency. Total protein intake was highest in T 3 (1172.33 g), although statistically comparable with T 2 and Tgroups. More importantly, the highest protein efficiency ratio (PER) was obtained in T 2 (1.15), indicating more efficient conversion of dietary protein into body weight gain. Similarly, energy efficiency ratio (EER) was significantly highest in T 2 (7.64), demonstrating superior utilization of metabolizable energy when pearl millet replaced maize at 20% of the diet. The finding Mohanta et al. (2022) [12] who reported the performance of indigenous Nusuri chicken germplasm of Odisha. The mean cumulative EER and PER was 9.07 and 1.23 at the age of 8 ^ th week and 7.39 and 1.15 at 20 th week, respectively. These results of nitrogen intake and balance are in close agreement with the findings of Baurhoo et al. (2011) [3] , Ibe et al. (2014) [8] and Malik et al. (2021) [10] , who reported that moderate inclusion of millet did not impair nutrient utilization in poultry. However, the present findings differ from those of Tyagi et al. (2003) [17] and Jha and Kumar (2008) [9] , who observed non-significant changes in nutrient metabolizability at higher pearl millet inclusion levels. The positive nitrogen balance observed in all treatment groups of the present study further confirms adequate nutrient retention irrespective of dietary treatment. Overall, the present investigation demonstrated that replacement of maize with pearl millet at 20% (T 2 ) optimized nutrient utilization by improving dry matter and crude protein digestibility together with the highest protein and energy efficiency ratios. Although 40% pearl millet enhanced crude fibre digestibility and finger millet improved ether extract and NFE digestibility, these advantages were insufficient to improve overall nutrient utilization efficiency. Therefore, 20% pearl millet can be considered the optimum inclusion level for maximizing nutrient digestibility and utilization in growing Mewari chicken.

Conclusion

The present investigation demonstrated that dietary replacement of maize with pearl millet and finger millet significantly influenced nutrient utilization in Mewari chicken. Birds fed the diet containing 20% pearl millet (T 2 ) exhibited superior dry matter and crude protein digestibility, together with the highest protein efficiency ratio and energy efficiency ratio, indicating improved utilization of dietary nutrients. Although higher inclusion levels of pearl millet and finger millet. Based on the overall biological response, replacement of maize with pearl millet at 20% of the diet can be recommended as a nutritionally efficient and economically feasible alternative energy source for Mewari chicken reared under semi-arid conditions of Rajasthan. Adoption of locally available pearl millet may reduce dependence on maize, lower feed costs and contribute to sustainable indigenous poultry production.

Acknowledgement

AcknowledgmentThe authors gratefully acknowledge the ICAR-AICRP on Poultry Breeding project for providing necessary facilities and technical support during the experiment and to Head, Department of Animal Production, for providing their infrastructure and facilities required to carry out the research successfully.

References

1. AOAC. Official method of analysis, 20th addition. Washington, D.C., USA: Association of Official Analytical Chemists; 2005
2. Banerjee S, Melesse A, Dotamo D, Berihun K, Beyan M. Effect of feeding different dietary protein levels with iso-caloric ration on nutrients intake and growth performances of dual-purpose Koekoeck chicken breeds. International Journal of Applied Poultry Research. 2013;2(2):27-32
3. Baurhoo N, Baurhoo B, Mustafa AF, Zhao X. Comparison of corn-based and Canadian pearl milletbased diets on performance, digestibility, villus morphology and digestive microbial populations in broiler chickens. Poultry Science. 2011;90(3):579-586
4. BIS -Bureau of Indian Standards. Chicken feeds. Specification (ISI 1374:2024), 6th revision; 2024
5. Bot MH, Kpanja EJ, Salifu AO, Garba SI, Hassan IM, Idris AA, et al. Effect of replacement levels of Red Finger millet-based diets on growth performance of broiler chickens fed with and without phytase enzyme supplementation. Nigerian Journal of Animal Sciences. 2021;23(2):51-59
6. Elangovan AV, Mandal AB, Tyagi PK, Tyagi PK, Toppo S, Johri TS. 2004
7. Ibe EA, Ogundipe SO, Duru S, Makinde OJ. Growth performance and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens fed two varieties each of guinea corn and millet as replacements for dietary maize. World Journal of Life Sciences and Medical Research. 2014;3(2):4652
8. Jha N, Kumar N. Effect of pearl millet with enzyme supplementation on the performance of broilers. Indian Journal of Animal Nutrition. 2008;25(3):278-282
9. Malik A, Ibrahim MJ, Salihu YK, Jibogun O, Adeniyi YJ, Solomon IK. Growth performance, nutrient digestibility, carcass and economic characteristics of turkey poults fed millet-based diets as a replacement for maize. Nigerian Journal of Animal Production. 2021;41(1):91-99
10. Meena, R.P., Joshi, D., Bisht, J.K. and Kant, L. (2021). Global scenario of millets cultivation. Millets and Millet Technology, Springer, 33-50.
11. Mohanta NB, Samal L, Behura NC, Pati PK, Maity A, Bagh J. Growth performance, feed utilization efficiency and blood biochemical parameters of Nusuri chicken International Journal of Agriculture and Food Science https://www.agriculturaljournals.com population of Odisha in floor rearing system. Indian Journal of Animal Sciences. 2022;92(8):1006-1012
12. Nour AAM, Sokrab AM, Ahmed IAM, Babiker E. Supplementation and cooking of pearl millet: Changes in antinutrients and total minerals content and extractability. Innovative Romanian Food Biotechnology. 2014;15:922
13. Raheem D, Dayoub M, Birech R, Nakiyemba A. The contribution of cereal grains to food security and sustainability in Africa: Potential application of UAV in Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda and Namibia. Urban Science. 2021;5(1):8
14. Raju MVLN, Shyamsunder G, Elangovan AV, Reddy MR, Sadagopan VR, Rao SV. Sorghum, bajra and ragi vis-a-vis maize as energy sources in broiler chicken diets. Indian Journal of Animal Nutrition. 2003;20(2):185-192
15. Snedecor GW, Cochran AW. Statistical Methods, IXth edition. Oxford and Calcutta: IBH Publishing Corporative; 1994.
16. Tyagi PK, Elangovan AV, Kaur S, Johri A, Mandal AB. Utilizing sunflower seed meal along with maize or maize and pearl millet in the diet of broilers. Indian J Poultry Sci. 2003;38(3):243-248. Tyagi PK, Mandal AB, Elangovan AV, Tyagi PK, Johri AK, Kaur S. Growth performance and carcass traits of broiler chickens as influenced by feeding of finger millet. Indian J Poultry Sci. 2004;39(2):131-135.