Abstract
ABSTRACTThe objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effects of xylanase and feed form on the performance, ileal nutrient digestibility, the gastrointestinal tract measurements, jejunal viscosity, and intestinal morphology of heat-challenged broilers fed wheat-based diets. The experiment was conducted as a 3 × 2 factorial arrangement with three feed forms (mash, crumbles, and pellets) and two levels of xylanase (without or with 300 mg/kg). Broilers fed mash had lower average daily feed intake, average daily gain (ADG), carcass weight, carcass yield, abdominal fat percentage, ileal digestibility values of apparent metabolizable energy corrected to zero nitrogen retention (AMEn) and crude protein (CP), villus length, and villus length:crypt depth ratio in the jejunum segment than broilers fed crumbles or pellets. The digestive tract development and crypt depth in the jejunum were lower (P < .001) for broilers fed crumbles or pellets than for broilers fed mash. Xylanse significantly increased ADG and ileal digestibility of AMEn, CP, and Ca, but decreased the viscosity of digesta in the jejunum segment. It was concluded that feeding crumbled and pelleted diets may offer a suitable nutritional strategy to improved productive performance in broilers reared under high ambient temperatures.
Highlights
Feedstuffs represent approximately 70% of the total production cost and the choice of poultry feeds is, of extreme economic importance
Broilers fed mash had lower average daily feed intake, average daily gain (ADG), carcass weight, carcass yield, abdominal fat percentage, ileal digestibility values of apparent metabolizable energy corrected to zero nitrogen retention (AMEn) and crude protein (CP), villus length, and villus length:crypt depth ratio in the jejunum segment than broilers fed crumbles or pellets
For the grower period (1–21 d of age), ADG was higher (P = .005) for broilers fed pellets than for broilers fed crumbles, whereas average daily feed intake (ADFI) was higher for those fed pellets than for broilers fed crumbles, and both were higher than broilers fed mash (P = .006)
Summary
Feedstuffs represent approximately 70% of the total production cost and the choice of poultry feeds is, of extreme economic importance. Because the cost of feed is a substantial portion of producing meat, even small improvements in feed efficiency can increase economic returns. Different types of feed form (mash, crumbles, and pellets) have been involved in broiler production (Abdollahi et al 2011). A crumble is a type of feed prepared at the mill by pelleting the mixed ingredients and crushing the pellet to a consistency coarser than mash. This form of feed is very convenient to use and this has led to its increased popularity among broiler producers (Cerrate et al 2009). Few studies have been performed to compare performance of heat-challenged broilers fed mash, crumbles, or pellets in the starter period (Xu et al 2015)
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