There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.
Abstract
An experiment was carried out to study the effect of different forms of wheat (airtight
silo stored whole wheat, conventionally stored whole wheat, and ground wheat included
in pellets) and dietary xylanase addition on production results and gastrointestinal
characteristics of broiler chickens. Ileal viscosity, pancreatic digestive enzyme
activities, and the composition and activity of the intestinal microflora were considered
as response parameters. Differences between the 2 types of whole wheat with respect
to the various measured parameters were marginal, whereas distinct differences were
found between pellet-fed birds and birds receiving whole wheat. Whole wheat feeding
improved feed conversion ratio and reduced water consumption (P < 0.001). Compared
with pellets, whole wheat increased the relative weight of pancreas and gizzard and
the dry matter concentration of gizzard content (P < 0.001). Whole wheat feeding reduced
the pH in the gizzard contents (P < 0.01) and increased ileal viscosity. The addition
of xylanase reduced ileal viscosity in birds receiving whole wheat to the same level
as in pellet-fed birds. Whole wheat feeding resulted in lower activities of amylase
in pancreatic tissue (P = 0.054), whereas xylanase addition increased chymotrypsin
(P = 0.030) and lipase activities (P = 0.052). Whole wheat feeding resulted in lower
intestinal numbers of lactose-negative enterobacteria (P < 0.05) and tended to reduce
the ileal and cecal numbers of Clostridium perfringens (P < or = 0.08). It is concluded
that whole wheat feeding stimulates gizzard function, which in turn prevents potentially
pathogenic bacteria from entering the intestinal tract.