Soybean Meal-Broilers

Canadian researchers compared the effects of replacing part or all of the soybean meal in broiler diets with ground, roasted, full-fat soybeans from either a high-protein or conventional soybean variety. Diets were formulated by replacing soybean meal in the barley-wheat-based control diet on an isonitrogenous basis with ground and roasted full-fat soybeans. The soybean source did not affect chick performance or nutrient utilization. The researchers concluded that optimum performance should be obtained when the ratio of roasted full-fat soybeans to soybean meal is about 2:1 in the starter diets of broiler chicks. (These results are not surprising since there was no mention of heat damage to the protein thus the full-fat soybean product would contain higher levels of energy, which would add to the energy density of the diet).

Hamilton, R.M.G. and M.A. Niven. 2000. Replacement of soybean meal with roasted full-fat soybeans from high-protein or conventional cultivars in diets for broiler chicks. Canadian J. Animal Sci. 80(3): 483-488.