Effects of age on development of digestive organs and performance of chicks fed a corn-soybean meal versus a crystalline amino acid diet

Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana 61801, USA. poultry@uiuc.edu

Changes in growth performance and physical and morphological development of the digestive organs were examined in chicks fed a crystalline amino acid (AA) diet compared to chicks fed a corn-soybean meal (SBM) diet. Six pens of eight New Hampshire x Columbian male chicks were assigned to one of three dietary regimens: (1) corn-SBM diet from 0 to 21 d of age; (2) cornstarch-crystalline AA diet from 0 to 21 d of age; and (3) corn-SBM diet from 0 to 7 d of age followed by the crystalline AA diet from 8 to 21 d of age. Weight gain was significantly reduced by feeding a crystalline AA diet from 0 to 21 or 8 to 21 d of age. Feeding a crystalline AA diet for the first 7 d of age depressed absolute weight of the small intestine, pancreas, liver, gizzard, and proven-triculus, and continual feeding through 21 d of age further depressed growth of these organs compared with birds fed a corn-SBM diet for 21 d. When expressing organ weight on a relative basis (g/100 g of BW), reductions were observed at 7 d of age due to feeding a crystalline AA diet but not at 21 d of age. Feeding a crystalline AA diet for the first 7 or 21 d of age depressed intestinal villi height and crypt depth. However, chicks fed the crystalline AA diet only from 8 to 21 d of age had further depressed villi height and crypt depth but greater villi width compared with chicks fed the crystalline AA or corn-SBM diet continually from 0 to 21 d of age. These results indicate that the reduced growth of chicks fed a crystalline AA diet is due in part to slower growth and development of the gastrointestinal tract.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. Jankowski, J. Juskiewicz, K. Gulewicz, A. Lecewicz, B. A. Slominski, and Z. Zdunczyk The effect of diets containing soybean meal, soybean protein concentrate, and soybean protein isolate of different oligosaccharide content on growth performance and gut function of young turkeys Poult. Sci., October 1, 2009; 88(10): 2132 - 2140. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]