Metabolizable energy value and ileal amino acid digestibility of fibrous feed ingredients in 22-day-old broiler chickens

Abstract

Objective: Fibrous feed ingredients may benefit gut development and reduce feed costs in broiler production; however, some ingredients contain antinutritional factors that can impair nutrient utilization.Therefore, accurate evaluation of their nutritive values is warranted prior to incorporating these ingredients into broiler diets.This study aimed to determine the apparent metabolizable energy (AME) concentrations and ileal amino acid (AA) digestibility in fibrous feed ingredients for 22-d-old broilers.Methods: On day 18 post-hatch, 288 Arbor Acres male broilers were assigned to six dietary treatments, with eight replicate cages (six birds per cage).Five experimental diets were formulated with wheat bran (WB), rice bran (RB), soybean hull (SH), corn gluten feed (CGF), and sugar beet pulp (SBP) as the sole source of energy and AA.Thereafter, the retention of dry matter (DM) and nitrogen (N) in the fibrous-ingredient-based diets were determined.Results: DM and N retention were higher (p < 0.05) for WB and RB than for SH, CGF, and SBP, with SBP lowest.AME was highest for RB and lowest for SH (p < 0.05), with N-corrected AME showing the same ranking.For indispensable AA, CGF was highest and SH lowest (p < 0.05); for dispensable AA, WB was highest and SH lowest (p < 0.05).Conclusion: Energy value was highest in RB and lowest in SH, with CGF, WB, and SBP intermediate.For indispensable AA, CGF was highest and SH lowest; for dispensable AA, WB was highest and SH lowest.For indispensable AA, the highest digestibility was observed in CGF, followed by RB, WB, SBP, and SH.Contrastingly, for dispensable AA, WB showed the greatest digestibility, followed by CGF, RB, SBP, and SH.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Animal Bioscience, 2026 · DOI ↗