The present study investigated the chemical composition and metabolizable energy levels of ten meat and bone meals (MBM) produced in Minas Gerais state (Experiment I) and evaluated the growth performance of broilers fed with diets containing those MBM (Experiment II). In the first experiment, energy values (apparent metabolizable energy [AME] and corrected apparent metabolizable energy [AMEn]) of ten different MBM were determined using the traditional method with total collection of excreta. Four hundred forty 21 day-old Hubbard broilers were used. A reference corn and soybean meal-based diet was replaced in 20% by the feed containing MBM to be tested. A completely randomized experimental design was used with eleven treatments (one reference diet and ten MBM), four repetitions per treatment and 10 birds per repetition (5 males and 5 females). In the second experiment, five MBMs from the ten analyzed in Experiment 1 were used as phosphorus source and compared to a diet containing bicalcium phosphate. The growth performance of the broilers fed with these diets was analyzed, considering two ages of the onset of MBM inclusion in the diet (1 or 7 days of age). One-day-old Hubbard broilers (1,320 birds) were housed in 44 plots with 30 birds per experimental unit. The experiment consisted of 11 treatments in a 5x2 factorial arrangement, with five sources of MBM, two ages for the onset of inclusion, and a reference treatment without addition of MBM. The results obtained showed a great variation in the chemical composition and apparent metabolizable energy of the evaluated meals. No significant differences were found on the performance of broilers fed diets with different MBM or the diet with bicalcium phosphate as phosphorus source. The performance of broilers was not significantly influenced by the onset of MBM inclusion in the diets.
Broilers; ingredient; meat and bone meal; metabolizable energy; Salmonella
