Two trials were carried out to evaluate the moisture sorghum silage (HMSS) with high or low tannin content as ingredient in broiler chicken diets. In the digestibility trial, ninety 20-d chicks were assigned to a completely randomized design with three treatments and six replications, and five chicks per experimental unit. Coefficients of metabolizable dry matter (MDM), metabolizable protein (MP), metabolizable starch (MS), metabolizable organic matter (MOM) and metabolizable energy (ME) of HMSS with high tannin, as-fed basis (66.22%DM), were as follows: 57.29; 56.96; 4.45; 35.27% and 2,408 kcal/kg, respectively. The coefficients of HMSS with low tannin were of 60.42; 59.95; 5.11; 39.58% and 2578 kcal/kg, respectively, as-fed basis (65.28% DM). In the performance assay, eight hundred and forty chicks were assigned to a completely randomized experimental design, with seven treatments, four replications and thirty chicks per experimental unit. Treatments consisted of a corn-soybean meal -based diet and six with 33, 66 and 100% HMSS with high or low content replaced by dry corn. Increasing HMSS levels with high tannin contents in diets caused a linear decrease on weight, weight gain, feed intake at 21 and 40 days old, but this effect was not observed for HMSS of low tannin content. Forty-day-old broilers fed diets with HMSS of high tannin content in 66 and 100% replacement levels showed lower weight and lower weigh gain. However, broilers fed HMSS with low tannin content did not differ from control. Linear decrease on the chicken leg color of was observed when HMSS was included in the diets. Performance results demonstrated that HMSS with high tannin content may replace um 33% of corn and with low tannin HMSS up to 100% of corn in diets of broilers, with no effect on performance and with lower cost per kilogram of produced broiler.
broilers; digestibility; energetic values; performance; sorghum
