Effect of chemical content and physical characteristics on nutritional value of wheat, barley and oats for poultry

Abstract Five wheat, barley and oat varieties were grown on two locations in Norway in 1998 and 1999. These 60 batches of wheat, barley and oats were analysed for chemical contents and physical characteristics. Diets with and without enzyme addition containing 770 g cereals of each batch per kg DM were fed to broiler chickens from 7 to 21 days of age. Apparent metabolisable energy (AME) value of the diets without enzyme added was also determined using adult cockerels. Overall, no major difference in AME value determined with broilers existed between wheat, barley and oats diets when enzymes were not used. AME value of the wheat diets was negatively ( P P P P Considerable variation in nutritional value, which was largely caused by variations in viscosity of the grain, was found among barley varieties. Nutritional value increased ( P Considerable variation in nutritional value was found among oats varieties. Nutritional value increased ( P P P AME value was consistently higher when determined with adult cockerels than with growing broiler chickens. It is therefore concluded that AME values determined with adult cockerels may have limited value for evaluation of nutritional value of cereals for growing broiler chickens.