Growth and apparent absorption of minerals in broiler chicks fed diets with low or high tannin contents

Sorghum grains with low (0.28 per cent catechin equivalent (%CE) or high (1.36 %CE)) tannin contents were used to study the effect of tannin on growth and on the apparent absorption of Ca, P, Mg, Na, K, Fe and Co by chickens. High-tannin sorghum caused a highly significant (p less than or equal to 0.01) reduction in the weight gain and feed intake of broiler chicks compared to low-tannin sorghum and increased the feed conversion ratio (p less than or equal to 0.01). The amount of tannin did not affect mortality. The apparent absorption of Ca, P, Mg, Na, K, Fe and Co was reduced (p less than or equal to 0.01) by feeding sorghum grains with a high tannin content.