Influence of feeding coarse corn on performance, nutrient utilization, digestive tract measurements, carcass characteristics, and cecal microflora counts of broilers

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to examine the effects of feeding coarsely ground corn on performance, digestive tract measurements, nutrient utilization, and cecal microflora counts in broilers. Five diets containing 600 g/kg of finely ground corn (hammer milled) or 150, 300, 450, and 600 g/kg of coarse corn (cracked in roller mill) replacing (wt/wt) finely ground corn were formulated. Each diet in mash form was offered ad libitum to 6 replicate cages of broilers (8 birds per cage) from d 11 to 35 posthatch. Weight gain increased (linear effect, P < 0.01) with increasing inclusion levels of coarse corn. Feed intake (quadratic effect, P < 0.05) increased at 150 g/kg of coarse corn inclusion, plateaued until 450 g/kg, and then increased again to 600 g/kg. Feed per gain increased (quadratic effect, P < 0.05) as inclusion of coarse corn increased to 300 g/kg and then decreased with further inclusion. Apparent metabolizable energy and total tract DM retention (quadratic effect, P < 0.01) was unaffected up to 300g/kg inclusion, and then decreased with further inclusion of coarse corn. Relative gizzard weight increased (linear effect, P < 0.05) with increasing inclusion of coarse corn. Inclusion of coarse corn had no effect (P > 0.05) on ileal digestibility of DM, N, and starch. Breast meat yield decreased (linear effect, P < 0.05 and abdominal fat increased (linear effect, P < 0.001) with increasing inclusion levels of coarse corn, but there was no effect (P > 0.05) on the carcass yield. A linear (P < 0.05) effect was observed for cecal microflora counts. Lactobacillus spp. and Bifidobacteria spp. counts increased and counts of Clostridium spp., Campylobacterium spp., and Bacteroides spp. decreased with increasing inclusion levels of coarse corn. The present data showed that feeding of coarse corn increased weight gain and gizzard size, and modified gut microflora profile toward beneficial species and that it can totally replace ground corn in broilers fed mash diets.

Effects of a Whole-grain Paddy Rice Diet on the pH Distribution in the Gizzard and Retention Time of Digesta in the Crop of Broiler Chicks

“…Therefore, when chicks are fed feed materials of certain grinding resistance, they develop stronger gizzard function (muscular activity) than when fed regular chicken feed. These phenomena have been reported for diets containing oat hull (Jiménez-Moreno et al, 2009b;González-Alvarado et al, 2010;Mateos et al, 2012), coarsely crushed corn (Nir et al, 1994a, b;Singh et al, 2014), and whole wheat (Engberg et al, 2004;Bjerrum et al, 2005;Gabriel et al, 2008). In the present experiment, the level of gizzard development was in the order of WPR＞GC＞BR (estimated by the relative weight of the gizzard; see Table 4).…”

Particle size and feed form in broiler diets: impact on gastrointestinal tract development and gut health

“…However, Naderinejad et al (2015) reported that gizzard pH was responsive to particle size only in pelleted maize diets. The lack of gizzard pH response to particle size in mash diets is in agreement with the findings by Charbeneau and Roberson (2004), Jacobs et al (2010) and Singh et al (2014). Naderinejad et al (2016) found that, although pelleting reduced the proportion of coarse particles, it seemed that a minimum of 40 to 60 g/kg coarse particles of >2 mm was sufficient to stimulate secretion of hydrochloric acid and reduce the gizzard pH to the same level as mash-fed birds.…”

“…Singh et al (2014) fed broilers diets with graded levels of coarse maize (0, 150, 300, 450, 600 g/kg) in mash diets and found that the counts of Lactobacillus spp. and Bifidobacteria spp.…”

Inhibitory Effect of Whole Grain Paddy Rice Feeding on the Colonization of <i>Campylobacter jejuni </i>in the Cecum of Broiler Chicks

“…It is, however, unclear whether enhancement of the gizzard grinding activity promoted by the feeding of coarse feeds affects the pH of its contents. Gabriel et al (2003), and Engberg et al (2004) reported lower pH values in the gizzard contents of birds fed whole wheat, oat hulls and soy hulls (Jiménez-Moreno et al, 2009b), oat and barley hulls (Sacranie et al, 2012), oat hulls and sugar beet pulp (Jiménez-Moreno et al, 2009a;, and oat hulls, soybean hulls and sugar beet pulp (Mateos et al, 2012), whereas Hetland et al (2002), González et al (2008), Jacobs et al (2010), and Singh et al (2014) reported that no significant effect of the feeding of coarse feeds on the pH of gizzard contents. In this study, we found no significant difference the gizzard content pH between WPR and GC-fed chicks, and this result was similar to Hetland et al (2002), González et al (2008), Jacobs et al (2010), and Singh et al (2014).…”