Standardised ileal digestibility of crude protein and amino acids of UK-grown peas and faba beans by broilers

Abstract In view of the increasing interest in home-grown legumes as components of diets for non-ruminant livestock and in an attempt to reduce the reliance on imported soya bean meal (SBM), two experiments were conducted to evaluate samples of peas and faba beans for their standardised ileal digestibility (SID) of amino acids determined with young broiler chicks. Experiment 1 evaluated six faba bean and seven pea cultivars and Experiment 2 evaluated two faba bean and three pea cultivars as well as a sample of soya bean meal provided as a reference material. Peas and beans were added at 750 g/kg as the only source of protein/amino acids in a semi-synthetic diet containing the inert marker titanium dioxide; SBM was added, in a control diet, at 500 g/kg. Each diet was fed to six replicates of a cage containing two Ross-type broilers for 96 h at which point birds were culled allowing removal of ileal digesta. Chemical analyses allowed the calculation of the coefficient of SID of amino acids. There were no differences between samples of the same pulse species ( P >0.05) but peas had higher values ( P