Comparative Apparent Metabolizable Energy Values of Soaking, Fermentation withLactobacillusand Enzyme Treatment of Barley in Cockerels and Quails

Abstract

An experiment was carried out to evaluate the effects of two species of poultry (cockerel and Japanese quail), two levels of enzyme (0 and 0.5 g/kg) and five processing methods (untreated control [UT], soaking for 12 h [SO12h], 24 h [SO24h] and 48 h [SO48h], and fermentation with Lactobacillus (FL)] on apparent metabolizable energy (AME) and nitrogen-corrected AME (AMEn) of whole barley. In this experiment, each processing method was tested at two levels of enzyme (0 and 0.5 g/kg) in six replications, with two cockerel or four quails per replication. The results showed that the AMEn values by barley processing methods were as follows: UT – 2739 and 2695; SO12h – 2767 and 2701; SO24h – 2841 and 2728; SO48h – 2916 and 2811; FL – 3098 and 2,989 kcal/kg cockerels and quails, respectively. The AMEn of level of enzyme 0 (2,766 kcal/kg) was significantly lower than that of level of enzyme 0.5 (2,854 kcal/kg). The interaction among species, levels of enzyme and barley processing in AMEn was significant. There was a significant difference in the AMEn of processed barley between cockerels and quails. Practical Applications In the present study, the results suggested that the most effective processing method of barley to obtain high level of AMEn values is fermentation with Lactobacillus, and the use of both enzyme and processing methods can improve the AMEn values compared with processing method alone. We also need to consider species differences when AME and AMEn of feed ingredients are evaluated in poultry.