ISSUE FOCUS FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE April 2025 31 Impact of using an adult metabolisable energy on broiler feed efficiency Metabolisable Energy (kcal/kg) Maize 57% Wheat 0% Energy actually used by broiler Energy cannot be used by broiler Theoretical level of poultry ME in feed FCR Maize 38% Wheat 19% Maize 19% Wheat 38% Maize 0% Wheat 57% Feed Coversion Ratio of broiler (FCR) 1.7 1.65 1.6 1.55 1.5 1.45 1.4 1.35 2900 2850 2800 2750 2700 2650 2600 2550 2500 FEED DIGESTIBILITY IS THE KEY TO HIGH-PERFORMANCE FEEDS The nutritional contribution of raw materials is only optimised if the bird is able to absorb these nutrients through the intestinal epithelium. The digestibility of a feed depends on several factors. Depending on their structural and nutritional composition, not all raw materials have the same capacity to be digested by the animal. Added to this is the physiological stage of the bird, which will also have an impact on the digestibility of the raw materials contained in the feed. A study conducted over the last 20 years on our research farm examining the digestibility of various feedstuffs in 21-day-old broilers and adult birds reveals significant differences in their ability to digest and utilize different ingredients. These variations depend on the birds' physiological stage and the specific feedstuff, as illustrated by the example of wheat and maize (Graph 1). When optimising a range of broiler feed, taking into account the capacity of young animals to digest raw materials less efficiently is an important lever for feed performance. As shown in Graph 2, formulating poultry feed for growing broilers using metabolisable energy values derived from adult bird digestibility data can significantly affect overall feed costs by worsening the feed conversion ratio. To address this issue, TECHNA has developed a Broiler Metabolisable Energy (Broiler ME) value specifically tailored for growing broilers. This ensures an adequate energy supply, accounting Effect of digestive tract maturity and raw material type on energy digestibility in poultry 90 85 80 75 70 65 60 Digestibility rate of raw material gross energy (%) Wheat Broilers (21-day-old) Roosters Maize Graph 1. Raw material digestibility trial results for 21-day-old broilers and adult roosters. Graph 2. Impact of unused energy by broilers on the feed conversion ratio. Four groups of broilers are fed with different recipes with the same nutritional level but different proportions of wheat and maize. A level of 2850 kcal/kg of adult metabolisable energy (Poultry ME) is used to formulate these four recipes. The Feed Conversion Ratio is measured for each broiler group.
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