Different enzymatic associations in diets of broiler chickens formulated with corn dried at various temperatures

• Published in: Poultry science Vol. 100; no. 5; p. 101013
• Main Authors: Giacobbo, Franciele C.N., Eyng, Cinthia, Nunes, Ricardo V., de Souza, Cleison, Teixeira, Levy V., Pilla, Rachel, Suchodolski, Jan S., Bortoluzzi, Cristiano
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Inc 01-05-2021; Elsevier
• Subjects: amylase; Animal Feed - analysis; Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Animals; cecal microbiota; Chickens; Diet - veterinary; Dietary Supplements - analysis; drying; Male; METABOLISM AND NUTRITION; protease; Temperature; xylanase; Zea mays; protease; cecal microbiota; drying; amylase; xylanase
• ISSN: 0032-5791; 1525-3171
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psj.2021.01.035

The effect of supplementation of different enzymatic associations in the feed of broiler chickens formulated with corn dried at 80°C or 110°C on growth performance and carcass yield was evaluated. In addition, the influence of the different enzymatic associations on the cecal microbiota was studied. One-day-old male broiler chicks (1,320) were distributed in a completely randomized design in a 2 × 5 factorial arrangement (6 replicates; 22 birds/replicate). The treatments were 2 corn drying temperatures (80°C and 110°C) and 5 diets. The diets consisted of a positive control (PC), a negative control (NC) with a reduction of 100 kcal/kg of apparent metabolizable energy, and 3 enzyme combinations added to the NC diet: amylase, amylase + xylanase, and amylase + xylanase + protease. The feed conversion ratio (FCR) from 1 to 7 d of chickens fed diets formulated with corn dried at 80°C was better (P = 0.045) than that of chickens fed diets dried at 110°C. Regardless of the enzymatic association, the supplementation improved body weight gain (P = 0.01) of the NC group to the same level as the PC group. The FCR of the NC was similar to that of the PC only when the 3 enzymes were included from 1 to 21 d (P = 0.001) and regardless of the enzymatic association for the period from 1 to 42 d (P = 0.007). Regarding cecal microbiota, the alpha diversity was similar among the groups (P > 0.05). The beta-diversity analysis showed that the microbiota of the birds receiving the combination of the 3 enzymes was similar to that of birds fed the PC diet (P = 0.18; R = 0.074), with a similar effect observed for the predicted metabolic functions (Linear discriminant analysis effect size). In conclusion, chickens fed diets formulated with corn dried at 80°C had better FCR during the prestarter phase. The enzymatic supplementation improved the FCR of the birds, which may partially be explained by the modulation of the cecal microbiota.