Effect of Chemical Composition and Dietary Enzyme Supplementation on Metabolisable Energy of Wheat Screenings

Three trials were conducted to determine the available energy of different wheat screening varieties collected from different locations of Khorasan in Iran. In experiment 1, chemical composition and the nitrogen corrected true metabolisable energy (TMEn) were evaluated. A precision-fed rooster assay was used, in which, each wheat screening sample was tube fed to adult roosters, and the excreta were collected for 48-h. In Exp. 2 and 3, five and two wheat screening verities-based diets with or without xylanase and phytase were fed to 16-day old battery reared chicks respectively, and total feed consumption and excreta were measured during next three days. The variable nature of wheat screening varieties led to significant differences in mean TMEn values (p<0.01). The TMEn values of samples determined with adult roosters varied by ${\pm}5.03%$ of the mean value ($3,097.65{\pm}49.32\;kcal/kg$) and ranged from 2,734.90 to 3,245.12 kcal/kg. There was a significant correlation (p<0.05) between crude fiber (CF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and acid detergent fiber (ADF) with TMEn, and the greatest correlation coefficient was observed between NDF and TMEn (r = -0.947; p<0.001). The optimal equation in terms of $R^2$ from using a single chemical analysis was obtained with NDF: TMEn = 4,152.09-27.80 NDF ($R^2$ = 0.90, p<0.0001), and the TME prediction equation was improved by the addition of the crude protein (CP) and ASH content to sequential analysis: TMEn = 3,656.97-28.65 NDF+32.54 CP+38.70 ASH ($R^2$ = 0.98, p<0.0001). The average AMEn values of 5 and 2 wheat screening varieties determined with young broiler chickens were $2,968.41{\pm}25.70\;kcal/kg$ and $2,976.38{\pm}8.34\;kcal/kg$ in Exp. 2 and Exp. 3, respectively. Addition of xylanase and phytase to wheat screenings resulted in significant (p<0.01) improvement in AMEn by 4.21 and 2.92%, respectively.