HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Free Via Open Access Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by del Alamo, A. G. Articles by Villamide, M. J. PubMed Articles by del Alamo, A. G. Articles by Villamide, M. J.

Effect of Wheat Cultivar and Enzyme Addition to Broiler Chicken Diets on Nutrient Digestibility, Performance, and Apparent Metabolizable Energy Content

A. Gutierrez del Alamo^*,1, M. W. A. Verstegen, L. A. Den Hartog^*,, P. Perez de Ayala^* and M. J. Villamide

^* Nutreco Poultry and Rabbit Research Centre, 45950 Casarrubios del Monte, Toledo, Spain; Wageningen University, Animal Nutrition Group, PO Box 338, 6700 AH Wageningen, the Netherlands; and Departamento de Producción Animal, Escuela Ténica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain

¹ Corresponding author: a.gutierrez{at}nutreco.com

A total of 5,000 one-day-old male broiler chickens were assigned to 8 different treatments in a 4 x 2 factorial design. Four wheat cultivars (Amiro, Guadalupe, Isengrain, and Horzal) and 2 levels (0 or 1 kg/t of feed) of an enzyme cocktail (Avizyme 1300, xylanase, 2,500 U/kg and protease, 800 U/kg) were used. Nutritionally complete mash diets contained 65 and 70% of the test wheat for the starter and grower period, respectively. Test wheats were used in diets for broilers, and growth performance and AME contents were measured. Broiler performance was measured in 4,800 broilers allocated to floor pens with 75 birds each and fed from 1 to 42 d of age. Digestibilities and AME contents of diets were measured in 200 broilers from 6 to 27 d of age individually allocated to battery cages. Chromic oxide (Cr₂O₃) at an inclusion rate of 0.5% in the diet was used as an indigestible marker. Apparent metabolizable energy was corrected by zero N balance to obtain AME_n. Wheat cultivar strongly influenced animal performance during the starter period (1 to 21 d of age). During the grower period (21 to 42 d of age), only BW and daily feed intake were influenced by wheat cultivar. Differences in daily feed intake were associated with differences in AME_n intake during the starter period, but not during the grower period. Nutrient digestibility was higher with the use of enzyme. Animal performance was not affected (i.e., wheat cultivar differences were not eliminated by using enzymes). During the grower period, significant interactions were detected with regard to nutrient digestibility and AME_n. Differences in AME_n content of wheat could not be explained by digestible starch.

Key Words: broiler • wheat • metabolizable energy • broiler performance • enzyme