Protein source and dietary structure influence growth performance, gut morphology, and hindgut fermentation...

Area of Science:

• Animal Science
• Poultry Nutrition
• Digestive Physiology

Background:

• Broiler performance is influenced by dietary protein digestibility and particle size.
• Rapeseed meal (RSM) offers a less digestible protein source compared to soybean meal.
• Diet structure (particle size) may interact with protein digestibility to affect broiler outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of dietary particle size (fine vs. coarse) on broiler performance.
• To determine if coarse diets improve performance when broilers are fed poorly digestible protein sources (RSM).
• To investigate the effects of diet structure and RSM inclusion on gut morphology and cecal fermentation.

Main Methods:

• A 5x2 factorial experiment with 210 male Ross 308 broilers was conducted.
• Diets varied in rapeseed meal (RSM) inclusion (0-100%) and particle size (fine vs. coarse).
• Feed intake, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio, gut morphology, and cecal digesta parameters were measured.

Main Results:

• Increasing RSM inclusion negatively impacted feed intake, BW gain, and feed conversion ratio.
• Coarse diets significantly improved feed intake, BW gain, and feed conversion ratio.
• Coarse diets led to heavier gizzards, lower gizzard pH, increased villus height, and reduced hindgut fermentation indicators.

Conclusions:

• Dietary coarseness improves broiler performance regardless of protein digestibility.
• Coarse particle diets can mitigate negative effects of poorly digestible protein sources.
• Grinding feed to a coarser texture can reduce hindgut protein fermentation in broilers.