By-product of Tropical Vermicelli Waste as a Novel Alternative Feedstuff in Broiler Diets.

Two experiments were conducted to determine physical and chemical properties of vermicelli waste (VW) and effect of VW inclusion levels on growth performance of broilers. In experiment 1, VW samples were randomly collected from vermicelli industry in Thailand to analyze nutritional composition. Vermicelli waste contained 9.96% moisture, 12.06% CP, 32.30% crude fiber (CF), and 0.57% ether extract (EE), as DM basis. The ratio of insoluble:soluble non-starch polysaccharide (NSP) was 43.4:8.9. A total of 120 chicks (6 pens per treatment and 10 chicks per pen) were fed a corn-soybean meal-based diet or 20% VW substituted diet to determine the apparent metabolizable energy corrected for nitrogen retention (AMEn) of VW. The AMEn of VW was 1,844.7±130.71 kcal/kg. In experiment 2, a total of 1,200 chicks were randomly allotted to 1 of 4 dietary treatments for 42-d growth assay. There were 300 chicks with 6 pens per treatment and 50 chicks per pen. The dietary treatments contained 0%, 5%, 10%, or 15% VW, respectively. All diets were formulated to be isocaloric and isonitrogenous. From 0 to 18 d of age chicks fed VW diets had higher (p<0.001) feed conversion ratio (FCR) compared with those fed the control diet. No difference was observed during grower and finisher phase (19 to 42 d). Chicks fed VW diets had lower relative weight of abdominal fat (p<0.001) but higher relative weight of gizzard (p<0.05) than those of chicks fed the control diet. Increasing VW inclusion levels increased ileal digesta viscosity (p<0.05) and intestinal villus height of chicks (p< 0.001). For apparent total tract digestibility assay, there were 4 metabolic cages of 6 chicks that were fed experimental treatment diets (the same as in the growth assay) in a 10-d total excreta collection. Increasing VW inclusion levels linearly decreased (p<0.05) apparent total tract digestibility of DM and CF.

Yolk absorption and embryo development of small and large eggs originating from young and old breeder hens.

To evaluate the effect of breeder age and egg size on yolk absorption and embryo development, a total of 4,800 Ross 308 hatching eggs were subjected to 4 treatments arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial randomized complete block design using 2 breeder ages (29 and 53 wk of age, or young and old) and 2 egg sizes (57-61 g and 66-70 g, or small and large). A significant interaction between breeder age and egg size was found for egg composition. Yolk weight increased with flock age, whereas a larger egg size resulted in higher albumen content. A significant interaction between breeder age and egg size was found for yolk-free body (YFB) weight only at d 7. Until the fourteenth day of incubation, eggs from the old flock yielded greater YFB weight than did eggs from the young flock. At hatch, chicks of both age groups had comparable wet YFB weight, chick weight, wet and dry residual yolk weight, and chick length. Dry YFB weight of chicks from the old flock was higher than that of chicks from the young flock. Compared with the small eggs, embryos and chicks of the large eggs had greater YFB weight from d 14 to hatching. At hatch, these chicks were also heavier, longer, and had higher wet and dry YFB and residual yolk weight. Yolk absorption at d 18 and at hatch of embryos and chicks of the old flock was higher than that of the young flock, both in absolute values and percentages. Rates of absolute and percentage yolk absorption through d 18 and percentage yolk absorption at hatch were higher in the small eggs than in the large eggs. It can be concluded that egg size influences chick length at hatch and embryo development when expressed in terms of total and YFB weight. Although yolk availability and rate of absorption may have influenced dry YFB weight, they did not influence hatching chick length or total and YFB weight.

Effect of extrusion of corn and feed form on feed quality and growth performance of poultry in a tropical environment.

Two experiments were conducted to study the effect of corn extrusion and feed form on feed quality and growth performance of broilers. In experiment 1, whole corn was extruded at a water flow rate of 16, 19, and 22 L/h. The experimental design was a completely randomized design with 3 replications for each treatment. The extrusion process significantly decreased (P < 0.01) ether extract, crude fiber, and moisture content of corn. Increased water flow significantly decreased enzyme susceptibility from 56 to 47% (P < 0.01), but increased the bulk density of extrudate from 134 to 224 g/L (P < 0.01). However, there was a trend for lower total energy consumption (P < 0.01) and extruding production rate (P < 0.05) when corn was processed at the water flow of 22 L/h. In Exp. 2, 1,600 broilers (initially BW of 41 g) were used to determine the effect of extrudate and feed form on the growth performance in poultry during a 42-d growth assay. There were 50 chicks per pen and 8 pens per treatment. Treatments were arranged in a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement with the main effect of feed form and the main effect of 25% processed corn inclusion. Treatments were 1) conventional corn mash, 2) conventional corn pelleted feed, 3) +25% extruded corn mash, and 4) +25% extruded corn pelleted feed. Chicks fed pelleted feed, regardless of processing of corn, had a greater BW and feed conversion than those fed mash feed diet (P < 0.001). Extruded corn mash decreased the growth performance. Results suggested that optimal growth rate and feed conversion of birds raised in a tropical environment given extruded corn might be achieved by steam pelleting.