Utilization of Different Corn Fractions by Broilers
Costa, S. I. F. RStringhini, J. HRibeiro, A. M. LPontalti, GMacManus, C
This study was conducted to evaluate the nutritional values of fractions of damaged corn. One hundred and eighty 22-d-old Cobb 500 male broilers were distributed in batteries according to a completely randomized design with six treatments of six replicates each. The treatments consisted of diets containing five corn fractions, classified as sound, fermented, insect-damaged, mold-damaged, or reference corn. The test diets consisted of 60% of reference diet + 40% of each corn fraction. Only the reference corn fraction included all the fractions at different proportions (0.8% fermented, 0.05% insect-damaged, 3.3% mold-damaged, and 95.85% sound grains). The method of total excreta collection was used to determine AMEn values and metabolizability coefficients of dry matter (MDM), crude protein (MCP), ether extract (MEE), and gross energy (MGE) of the reference corn and its fractions. The density values of the corn fractions were used to calculate the correlations among the evaluated parameters. The evaluated corn fractions presented different compositions values. The insect-damaged and mold-damaged grains presented higher CP level, lower density, and MDM and MCP coefficients compared with the other fractions. However, calculated AMEn values were not significantly different (p>0.05) among corn fractions. A low correlation between density and AMEn content (r 0.5), and a high correlation between density and MCP (r>0.8) were calculated. Although the evaluated corn fractions presented different nutritional values, there were no marked differences in their utilization by broilers.(AU)
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