ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate levels of inclusion of an enzyme complex (EC) in corn- and soybean meal-based diets for laying hens on the digestibility of nutrients and energy. A metabolism trial was conducted using 75 Dekalb Brown laying hens at 26 weeks of age, which were distributed into five treatments with five replicates in a completely randomized design. The ingredients used in the diets received an additional (enriched) 3% methionine, lysine, cysteine, threonine, tryptophan, and metabolizable energy and 33.3% phosphorus. Treatments consisted of diets including 0, 150, 200, 250, or 300 mg.kg‒1 EC. We determined apparent metabolizable energy (AME); nitrogen-corrected AME (AMEn); apparent metabolizability coefficients of dry matter (DMAM), crude protein (CPAM), gross energy (GEAM), and phosphorus (PAM); digestible crude protein (CPD); and intake, retention, and excretion of phosphorus. No effects of EC levels were detected on the metabolizable energy values or digestibility coefficients, except for CPAM, which showed a quadratic response (maximum coefficient at 89.0 mg.kg‒1EC). A quadratic effect was also observed for CPD (minimum at 115 mg.kg‒1 EC), P excretion (maximum at 173.2 mg.kg‒1 EC), and P retention (maximum at 122.4 mg.kg‒1 EC) when EC was used. The use of the EC in corn- and soybean meal-based diets for laying hens improves their ileal digestibility of protein and apparent digestibility of phosphorus. However, EC addition to the diets does not affect AME, AMEn, or their metabolizability coefficients.

ABSTRACT A total of 450 one-day-old male broiler chicks were used to evaluate the effect of the sugarcane yeast on performance, body composition, and development of the intestinal mucosa. The experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design with five treatments and six replicates of 15 birds. Sugarcane yeast was included in the experimental diets at the levels of 0, 12.5, 25.0, 37.5, and 50.0 g kg−1. Body weight, weight gain, feed intake, and feed conversion were determined. At the end of the experiment, four broiler chicks were slaughtered per experimental unit: two were used for evaluation of moisture content, crude protein, fat, and body ash and the other two were used in the collection of small-intestine segments for evaluation of villus height and crypt depth. The increasing yeast levels resulted in a linear increase in feed intake and feed conversion. Inclusion of more than 14.4 g kg−1 yeast resulted in a reduction of body ash content. Villus height and crypt depth in the jejunum showed maximum values at the sugarcane yeast levels of 20.9 and 20.6 g kg−1, respectively. In the ileum, the crypt depth reduction at the level of 25.6 g kg−1 also resulted in an increase in villus:crypt ratio. Yeast inclusion increases feed intake and feed conversion, improves body mineral absorption, and increases villus height in the jejunum and the villus:crypt ratio in the ileum of broiler chicks.

An outstanding feature of poultry production that provides animal protein yield for human feeding is its short production cycle. This characteristic has a linear relationship with waste production. Increasing the inclusion of this residue in diets in the near future is desirable in step with the growth of poultry production since it offers a better environmental and nutritional alternative to current methods. We evaluated the effects on the performance and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens produced by the inclusion of poultry offal meal (POM) in their feed. Treatments consisted of a control diet (corn, Zea mays and soybean, Glycine max) and four diets with inclusion of 30, 60, 90 and 120 g kg-1 of POM. The diets were formulated based on the level of digestible amino acid once categorized as isocalcic, isophosphoric, isosodic, isoenergetic and isonutritive for protein, methionine+cystine, lysine and threonine. The feed's electrolytes were corrected so that each diet had the same electrolytic balance. The variables analyzed were feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion ratio, body weight, carcass yield, chicken cut yield and abdominal fat. Feed intake was not affected by the quantities of POM added. The weight gain, feed conversion, carcass yield and noble cuts presented quadratic responses to the treatments. Abdominal fat increased linearly. The performance of the poultry, and carcass characteristics were maximized by the inclusion of 53 and 65 g kg-1, respectively, of POM in the diet, and the inclusion of 120 g kg-1 of POM provided greater disposition of abdominal fat.

Objetivou-se com esta pesquisa avaliar o efeito da idade sobre os coeficientes de digestibilidade ileal aparente dos nutrientes, da energia bruta e os valores de energia digestível do gérmen integral de milho para frangos de corte. Quatro ensaios de digestibilidade foram realizados com 280 aves de corte (Cobb 500) distribuídas em um delineamento experimental inteiramente casualizado, com quatro tratamentos e cinco repetições. Os tratamentos avaliados consistiram das diferentes idades das aves: 10, 20, 30 e 40 dias. A quantidade de aves utilizadas nos ensaios foram: dez, oito, seis e quatro em cada unidade experimental, nas diferentes idades avaliadas, respectivamente. Os resultados foram analisados considerando-se como variável dependente a digestibilidade ileal aparente da matéria seca, da proteína bruta, do extrato etéreo e da energia bruta, matéria seca digestível, proteína bruta digestível, extrato etéreo digestível e energia digestível e como variável independente as idades (10, 20, 30 e 40 dias). Os resultados obtidos para as variáveis analisadas revelaram que a idade da ave exerceu influência apenas nos coeficientes de digestibilidade ileal da matéria seca e da energia bruta. A energia digestível do gérmen integral de milho aumentou cerca de 13 kcal kg-1 dia-1 até a idade avaliada (40 dias).

The objective of this research study was to evaluate the effect of age on the apparent ileal digestibility coefficient of nutrients, gross energy and digestible energy of corn germ meal for broilers. Four digestibility trials were conducted using 280 broilers (Cobb 500) distributed in a completely randomized design with two treatments and five replications, repeated at four ages (10, 20, 30 and 40 days). The number of birds used in the tests was 10, 8, 6 and 4 birds per experimental unit at the different ages. The results were analyzed considering as dependent variable the apparent ileal digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, ether extract and gross energy, digestible dry matter, digestible crude protein, lipid and digestible energy; and ages (10, 20, 30 and 40 days) as the independent variable. The results for the variables showed that bird age exerted influence only in the ileal digestibility of dry matter and gross energy. The digestible energy of corn germ meal increased by about 13 kcal kg-1 day-1 up to the evaluated age (40 days).