Effect of dietary fiber sources on tissue mineral levels in chicks

Dietary fiber may influence mineral status of chicks. Wheat bran, corn bran, soy bran, oat hulls, rice bran, and cellulose, were formulated into diets and fed to chicks for 4 weeks. Fiber-added diets contained additional 6% dietary fiber from the fiber sources. Body weights and feed intakes were recorded. Livers and tibias were analyzed for copper, zinc, iron, manganese, and magnesium. The rice bran diet resulted in significantly lowered body weights, feed intakes, and tibia concentrations of zinc, iron, and manganese. The other fiber-added diets did not produce significantly different values for the parameters examined. Dietary analyses showed that the rice bran diet did not have extremely high fiber levels as compared to the other diets. Addition of rice bran contributed the highest amount of phytic acid of all the fiber sources at 1.3% of the diet. It was concluded that when included at 6% of the diet, most fibers did not influence growth or tissue mineral levels. However, the addition of rice bran to the diet reduced body growth and deposition of zinc, iron, and manganese in tibias. It is possible that one fiber source may be beneficial while another is detrimental to nutritional status.