Causes for improvement in nutritive value of broiler chicken diets with whole wheat instead of ground wheat

Abstract

1. Two experiments were conducted with broiler chicks to compare nutritive values of ground and whole wheat diets containing titanium oxide as indigestible marker. 2. In Experiment 1, a wheat and soy isolate based cold-pelleted diet, in which all the wheat was ground in a hammer mill to pass through a 3 mm sieve, was compared with a diet in which about half (375 g/kg) of the ground wheat was taken out of the diet and supplied as whole wheat mixed into the diet after pelleting. 3. In Experiment 2, a diet based on ground wheat and soy isolate which was pelleted after preconditioning (final temperature 81 degrees C) was compared with a diet in which 500 g of the ground wheat was replaced by whole wheat mixed into the diet before pelleting. 4. In Experiment 1, replacement of ground wheat with whole wheat increased apparent metabolisable energy (AME) content and starch digestibility measured at ileal as well as faecal level, while weight gain and feed conversion efficiency (FCE) were not affected. Jejunal chyme showed increased amylase activity and bile salt concentration. 5. In Experiment 2, replacement of ground wheat with whole wheat increased dry matter content as well as bile content of gizzard, and stimulated an increase in gizzard as well as pancreas weight. Jejunal amylase and bile concentrations were not significantly affected and neither were growth, FCE or AME. 6. Results from this experiment indicate that the improved feed value sometimes observed with whole wheat may be associated with modulation of digestive processes resulting in increased pancreas and liver secretions.

Breeding for efficiency in the broiler chicken: A review

“…Years of advancement in feed distribution technologies and animal husbandry practices have undoubtedly reduced feed spillage to improve the feed use efficiency of the system (Svihus et al 2004;Howie et al 2011). Nevertheless, there is anecdotal evidence also to show the involvement of genetics in decreasing feed spillage.…”

Growth Performance and Histological Intestinal Alterations of Sanuki Cochin Chickens Fed Diets Diluted with Untreated Whole-Grain Paddy Rice

“…Therefore, some poultry producers have long been focused on reducing feed costs without negative effects on growth performance by using various dietary management methods, such as whole grain feedings or dietary dilutions. In many countries, feeding whole grains to poultry has become a common practice to reduce the cost of grinding (Cumming, 1992;Svihus et al, 2004) and to increase the use of locally grown grains (Nanto et al, 2012). Concurrently, the cultivation and use of paddy rice for the livestock industry has also been advocated in Japan.…”

Influence of particle size of the cereal of the diet on egg production, egg quality, and the development of the gastrointestinal tract of brown-egg laying hens

“…Many studies suggest that the particle size of the grain is more critical in mash feeds than in pelleted or crumbled feeds (Reece et al, 1985;Hamilton and Proudfoot, 1995a,b;Nir et al, 1995;Svihus et al, 2004). The improvements observed for BW gain and FCR were consistent with the greater FI and the reduction in feed wastage detected.…”

“…In pelleted diets, however, the relation is not clear and probably will depend on the particle size and uniformity of the digesta. Svihus et al (2004) found no effect of pre-pelleting particle size on gizzard weight in birds fed a hard wheat with a GMD varying between 600 and 1,700 μm. The reason for this finding probably lies in the reduction of the difference in particle size distribution after pelleting.…”