The effect of feed enzyme supplementation on the performance of meat-chickens fed enzyme-responsive barley- and wheat/maize-based diets

Abstract

The effect of a commercial feed enzyme complex on the performance of meat-chickens fed barley- and wheat/maize-based pelleted diets was investigated using a variety of barley whose true metabolisable energy (TME) was found to be responsive to enzyme addition and a feed grade wheat and maize. Bioassays for TME of three varieties of barley and of wheat and maize, showed Fleet barley to be responsive to enzyme addition at 100 ppm (P < 0.01) and 200 ppm (P < 0.05). The liveweight, liveweight gain, and feed conversion ratio of meat-chickens receiving Fleet barley-based diets supplemented with an enzyme complex (Roxazyme G) at either 0, 100, or 150 ppm or a wheat/maize-based dietary control with no enzyme inclusion (W/M), was significantly improved by enzyme addition. Enzyme supplementation at 100 and 150 ppm of a W/M-based control diet had no significant effect on the performance of meat-chickens grown to 39 days. Use of feed enzymes may permit greater use of barley in meat-chicken diets and is a strategy capable of conferring performance-enhancing effects in appropriate circumstances. © 1998 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.