Effect of substituting soybean meal with sweet lupine on the performance of Sasso T44 dual purpose chicken

Approximately 70-75% of the costs of raising chickens are due to feeding expenses. Proteins, and energy account 95% of these costs. Soybean meal is primary protein source in chicken diets; however, it is expensive and not widely available in feed formulations. Therefore, exploring alternative protein sources like sweet lupines could be a promising option. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of substituting soybean meal with sweet lupine (lupinus angustifolius) on the performance of Sasso T₄₄ dual purpose chicken. In the experimental treatments, soybean meal was replaced by sweet lupine at 0% (control), 15%, 25%, 30%, and 50% for T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5 respectively. A total of 180-day-old chickens with similar body weights (± 0.4 g SD) were used. A completely randomized design was employed, and the data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA with SAS software (version 9.1). Significant differences (p < 0.05) were observed in DM intake, body weight, body weight gain, and the characteristics of carcass and offal as the level of partial replacement increased from T1 to T5. Based on the findings of this study, broiler chickens can be fed sweet vitabor lupine as an alternative protein source in place of soybean meal.