Impact of Storage on Chemical Composition of Wheat and Efficiency of Its Utilization in Broilers

Abstract

This present study was designed to evaluate the effect of storage duration (1.5 years and 2.5 years storage) on wheat quality and the impact of the inclusion of stored wheat in the diet of broilers on performance, nutrient digestibility, and carcass parameters. A total of 560 one-day-old male broilers were randomly assigned to the 56 pens, and each pen had 10 birds. A corn-soybean-based diet was considered as the control diet and the other six dietary treatments were prepared by replacing corn of the corn-soybean diet with 50% and 100% replacement of fresh, 1.5-year stored, and 2.5-year stored wheat. The data of proximate composition of wheat represents that dry matter was improved (p < 0.05) and acid detergent fiber was decreased in 2.5-year-old wheat (p < 0.05). Performance parameters data represents that both in the starter phase and finisher phase, the replacement of corn with 50% and 100% fresh wheat in the diet significantly reduced the feed intake, nutrient digestibility, and body weight gain (p < 0.05), and 100% replacement of corn with fresh wheat resulted in higher FCR (p < 0.05). Based on the findings of this current study, it is concluded that the storage of wheat improves the performance of birds.