Nutritional evaluation of meat meals for poultry. VIII.* Nutritive values of and limiting amino acids in cereal diets, supplemented with meat meal

Abstract

When a commercial meat meal was used to supplement wheat, corn and sorghum diets to growing chicks, there was a wide variation in performance. Feed conversion efficiencies were higher on diets based on wheat and corn than those based on sorghum. The nutritive value as determined by chick growth tests of a wheat-plus-meat meal diet was higher than a corn or sorghum-plus-meat meal diet.

The nutritive value of a wheat–plus–meat meal diet, supplemented with lysine and methionine, was the same as that of a crystalline amino acid reference diet. The weight gains of chicks given these two diets were higher than those obtained with diets based on wheat, corn and sorghum, not supplemented with lysine and methionine.

The results were explained in terms of the limiting and digestible essential amino acids in these diets. The limiting amino acids in the diets were determined from the plasma amino acid levels in chicks given these diets.

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*Part VII, Aust. J. agric. Res., 23: 913-22 (1972).