Abstract
Background: Improving poultry products is a constant topic of research as the poultry industry aims to provide healthy products to consumers at economic prices and achieve financial profits for breeders. Therefore, recent research has resorted to finding cheap natural sources as alternatives to traditional feed and antibiotics.
Aim: The experiment was conducted to study the effects of sea buckthorn fruit residues meal on the performance and skin pigmentation of broilers.
Method: A total of 700 broiler chicks (ROSS 308) were allotted into two groups and each group was comprised of 350 birds divided into 10 replicants, 35 birds to each replicant. The experimental group was fed diets in which 15% of the wheat was replaced by sea buckthorn residues meal. The control group was fed diets without any color additive. Feed and water were provided ad-libitum.
Results: The sea buckthorn fruit residues contained 21% crude protein (CP) and Metabolisable energy calculated (MEn) was 9.88 MJ/kg. The live body weight was significantly lower than the experimental group (P<0.05) on days 14 and 28 of age. The feed conversion ratio was significantly poorer in the experimental group compared with the control group on days 35 of age (P<0.05). The mortality was higher in the experimental group than in the control group. Skin color was assessed by the DSM Broiler Fan. The skin of the broilers was significantly more yellowish in the experimental group compared with the control group (103.08 vs. 102.38 scale). The pigmentation of the skin was higher in males than females.
Conclusion: The use of sea buckthorn residues in poultry feeding had no negative effects on the overall performance rate. Mightily, its use in diets depends mainly on the price of feed ingredients. Thus, improving the skin color and biological value of broiler meat can be a determining factor for its use in broiler feed.

Key words: sea buckthorn residues; broilers; performance; skin pigmentation.