Buckwheat: a feed for broiler chicken?

Three broiler diets were composed, containing respectively 40% of wheat, hulled buckwheat or raw buckwheat. Respectively 24 male broiler chicken (Ross PM3) were fattened with one of these experimental diets from day 8 to 35 of life. Utilization of energy and nutrients as well as fattening performance and weights at slaughter were evaluated. Although fibre content was clearly higher in raw buckwheat than in wheat and hulled buckwheat, no differences among the diets were found, neither in utilization of energy and nitrogen nor in feed intake, daily weight gain, feed conversion and carcass weight of the animals. Thus, buckwheat offers a potential alternative to wheat in broiler diets, which would possibly include beneficial side effects for sustainable feed production on arable land.