April 3, 2008

New Zealand conducts study on whole wheat feeding effect on poultry
 

New Zealand's Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health (IFNHH) have conducted a study to understand the effects of two whole-wheat feeding systems on the performance, digestive tract development and carcass traits of broilers.
 

The two systems are mixed feeding and free choice feeding.

Three treatments based on wheat and soy meal were used; ground wheat diet with 600-690 grams of wheat per kg; mixed feeding ground wheat diet with 490-500 grams of wheat per kg and 100-200 grams of whole wheat per kg, and free choice feeding whole wheat and a protein concentrate offered in separate feeders.

Each diet was fed to six pens of 36 chickens each from day 7 to 35 after hatching. Over the 7-35 days trial period, no differences were noted between the weight gain, feed intake and feed per gain of broilers receiving the ground wheat and mixed feeding treatments.

However, chickens that received free choice feeding had the lowest weight gain and feed intake, and the highest feed per gain.

In the first trial week, the consumed protein concentration was more than the whole wheat (0.69 vs. 0.31) in the free choice feeding, resulting in the restriction of concentration in subsequent weeks. Over the trial period, the average consumption of protein concentration remained high at 0.56 of total intake. Both whole-wheat treatments increased gizzard weights.

Factors influencing diet selection such as visual differences, texture and flavour, and palatability of the food could be the reasons behind the lower whole-wheat intake in the free choice feeding treatment.

Whole wheat was only introduced on day 7 and it is possible that the chicks may have to be trained in free choice feeding from the first week of life. However, the results have showed that free choice feeding may not be a suitable system for fast growing modern broilers.