Amino Acid Availability Studies

Amino Acid Availability Studies

A study was reported on the influence of chick age on the apparent ileal digestibility of lysine for eight feed ingredients. The apparent ileal digestibility of lysine was determined at 14, 28 and 42 days of age using commonly accepted procedures. The diets were formulated with the test ingredient as the only source of protein. Male broilers were fed ad libitum the test diets for three days prior to the collection of the digesta. After an overnight fast, digesta was collected from the terminal end of the ileum. The lysine digestibility values for the three age groups were:

INGREDIENT	14 DAYS	28 DAYS	42 DAYS
Corn	0.69(b)*	0.77(a)	0.80(a)
Sorghum	0.69(b)	0.68(b)	0.77(a)
Wheat	0.68(a)	0.58(b)	0.64(ab)
Millmix	0.62(b)	0.61(b)	0.79(a)
Soybean Meal	0.87(b)	0.89(b)	0.91(a)
Canola Meal	0.79(b)	0.79(b)	0.80(ab)
Cottenseed Meal	0.53(b)	0.51(b)	0.60(a)
Meat and Bone Meal	0.79(b)	0.83(a)	0.81(ab)

*(Means in a row with different superscripts are significantly different (P<0.05)

These data show that the apparent ileal digestibility of lysine increased with age (P<0.05) for corn, sorghum, millmix, soybean meal, cottonseed meal and meat and bone meal, whereas, canola meal digestibilities were not affected by age of the bird. (This study shows again the high digestibility of soybean meal compared to other protein sources in broiler diets. The increased digestibility of crude protein and amino acids in soybean meal will allow the nutritionist to reduce amino acid safety margins in meeting daily nutrient requirements, reduce levels of undigested nitrogen compounds in waste and help reduce environmental concerns).

Huang, K. and co-workers. 2003. Influence of age on ileal lysine digestibility of feedstuffs in broiler chickens. Proc Aust. Poultry Sci, Sym. 15:70.

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