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The Correlation of Chemical and Physical Corn Kernel Traits with Production Performance in Broiler Chickens and Laying Hens

S. M. Moore^*, K. J. Stalder^*, D. C. Beitz^*, C. H. Stahl^*, W. A. Fithian and K. Bregendahl^*,1

^* Department of Animal Science, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011; and Golden Harvest Seeds Inc., Waterloo, NE 68069

¹ Corresponding author: kristjan{at}iastate.edu

A study was conducted to determine the influence on broiler chicken growth and laying hen performance of chemical and physical traits of corn kernels from different hybrids. A total of 720 male 1-d-old Ross-308 broiler chicks were allotted to floor pens in 2 replicated experiments with a randomized complete block design. A total of 240 fifty-two-week-old Hy-Line W-36 laying hens were allotted to cages in a randomized complete block design. Corn-soybean meal diets were formulated for 3 broiler growth phases and one 14-wk-long laying hen phase to be marginally deficient in Lys and TSAA to allow for the detection of differences or correlations attributable to corn kernel chemical or physical traits. The broiler chicken diets were also marginally deficient in Ca and nonphytate P. Within a phase, corn- and soybean-based diets containing equal amounts of 1 of 6 different corn hybrids were formulated. The corn hybrids were selected to vary widely in chemical and physical traits. Feed consumption and BW were recorded for broiler chickens every 2 wk from 0 to 6 wk of age. Egg production was recorded daily, and feed consumption and egg weights were recorded weekly for laying hens between 53 and 67 wk of age. Physical and chemical composition of kernels was correlated with performance measures by multivariate ANOVA. Chemical and physical kernel traits were weakly correlated with performance in broiler chickens from 0 to 2 wk of age (P < 0.05, | r | < 0.42). However, from 4 to 6 wk of age and 0 to 6 wk of age, only kernel chemical traits were correlated with broiler chicken performance (P < 0.05, | r | < 0.29). From 53 to 67 wk of age, correlations were observed between both kernel physical and chemical traits and laying hen performance (P < 0.05, | r | < 0.34). In both experiments, the correlations of performance measures with individual kernel chemical and physical traits for any single kernel trait were not large enough to base corn hybrid selection on for feeding poultry.

Key Words: broiler • corn kernel trait growth performance • egg production • laying hen