November 9, 2009

Northern Ireland develops new high energy glycerol chicken feed

Northern Ireland scientists have developed a new type of high energy chicken feed that uses glycerol, the by-product of biodiesel production.

Scientists formulated diets containing zero percent, 3.3 percent, 6.7 percent and 10 percent glycerol as a partial replacement for wheat. The feed were then offered to broilers from 7-28 days of age.

Birds were weighed weekly and excreta were collected to determine apparent metabolisable trial energy (AME).

It was found that MAE increased linearly with increasing glycerol inclusion. However, glycerol inclusion did not affect body weight, live weight gain and feed intake.

The level of glycerol inclusion also did not significantly affect any growth parameters and drip loss measurements, though it did improve FCR and 6.7 percent glycerol inclusion resulted in the most efficient feed conversion.