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Physical treatment and protease or probiotic supplementation and feather meal digestibility by broilers

Yiman Sun , Xiuhua Li , Dagong Zhang, Wayne Bryden

Abstract

Context: Improving the utilisation of alternative protein ingredients in livestock production will reduce feeding costs and improve industry sustainability. Feather meal (FM) is an abundant, alternative protein source with a high protein content but poor amino acid (AA) digestibility. Aim: This study evaluated strategies for improving AA digestibility of FM. Methods: Experiment 1 examined the effects of physical treatment with ultrasound, microwave and autoclaving on FM AA profile and digestibility. Experiment 2 evaluated the dietary addition of a protease (Ronozyme ProAct, 200 and 600 mg/kg; RPA) and a probiotic (BioPlus 400, 1500 mg/kg) on FM AA digestibility. Apparent ileal digestibility was determined by feeding each treatment to four replicate groups of 6 birds in Experiment 1 and five replicate groups of 7 birds in Experiment 2, and then collecting the contents of the lower half of the ileum. Key results: None of the physical treatments improved (P > 0.05) the AA profile or ileal AA digestibility of FM. Dietary supplementation with 200 mg/kg RPA or 1500 mg/kg BioPlus 400 did not significantly (P > 0.05) influence the apparent ileal AA digestibility of FM. However, the higher concentration of RPA (600mg/kg) significantly (P < 0.05) increased the apparent ileal AA digestibility of FM. Conclusion: The increased digestibility of FM by the protease and numerical increase (P<0.1) by the probiotic (1500 mg/kg) presumably reflect keratinase activity of both feed supplements. Implication: The results of this study indicate that there is scope for further improvement in the nutritive value of FM for broilers.

AN24091  Accepted 20 April 2024

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