Vol. 9, Issue 12, Part F (2025)

This study conducted to assess the effects of dietary insoluble fibre supplementation on nutrient digestibility (retention) and livability in commercial broiler chickens. A total of 160 day-old Vencobb 430Y broiler chicks were randomly assigned to five treatment groups, each consisting of four replicates with eight birds per replicate. The level of supplementation of insoluble fibre was 0%, 0.25%, 0.50%, 0.75% and 1% resulting in treatments T₁ (basal diet), T₂ (basal diet + 0.25% insoluble fibre), T₃ (basal diet + 0.50% insoluble fibre), T₄ (basal diet + 0.75% insoluble fibre) and T₅ (basal diet + 1% insoluble fibre) throughout the experimental period of 42 days. The results revealed that, retention of dry matter, organic matter, crude fat, crude fibre, NDF and ADL did not differ significantly among treatments. In contrast, ADF retention was significantly higher (p<0.05) in the 1% insoluble fibre supplemented group compared to T₁ and T₂. Nitrogen and calcium balances were similar across all groups, while phosphorus balance was significantly increased (p<0.05) at the 1% supplementation level relative to the control (T₁) and T₂ groups. Livability remained statistically similar throughout the experimental period. The results suggest that insoluble fibre supplementation did not markedly affect overall nutrient retention; however, higher supplementation level improved phosphorus and ADF retention.