Daniel Emygdio de Faria Filho
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais - Núcleo de Ciências Agrárias - Montes Claros, MG, Brazil
Daniel Mendes Borges Campos
Universidade Estadual Paulista - Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias - Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil
Karoll Andrea Alfonso-Torres
Universidade Estadual Paulista - Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias - Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil
Bruno Serpa Vieira
Universidade Estadual Paulista - Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias - Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil
Paulo Sergio Rosa
3Embrapa Suínos e Aves and Universidade do Contestado - Concórdia, SC, Brazil
Aiani Maria Vaz
Universidade Estadual Paulista - Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias - Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil
Marcos Macari
Universidade Estadual Paulista - Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias - Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil
Renato Luis Furlan
Universidade Estadual Paulista - Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias - Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil
ABSTRACT
Heat stress causes significant economic losses on broilers production due to poorer performance and carcass quality. Considering that protein has the highest heat increment among nutrients, it has been suggested that protein levels should be reduced in diets for heat-exposed broilers. Nevertheless, there are no conclusive results on the benefits of such practice, and further studies should be performed to elucidate some reported discrepancies. Thus, a trial was carried out to evaluate the effects of dietary protein levels (17, 20 and 23%) and environmental temperature (22 and 32°C) on the performance, nutrients digestibility, and energy and protein metabolism of broiler chickens from 21 to 42 days of age. Nutrients digestibility was determined by total excreta collection, and energy and protein metabolism was evaluated by comparative slaughter method. It was concluded that (1) heat exposure impairs broilers performance and increases nitrogen excretion, but do not change nutrients digestibility; (2) high-protein diets are technically feasible and promotes lower heat production for broilers reared under thermoneutral or hot environments, however, high-protein diets increases nitrogen excretion.
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How to cite this article
Daniel Emygdio de Faria Filho, Daniel Mendes Borges Campos, Karoll Andrea Alfonso-Torres, Bruno Serpa Vieira, Paulo Sergio Rosa, Aiani Maria Vaz, Marcos Macari and Renato Luis Furlan, 2007. Protein Levels for Heat-Exposed Broilers: Performance, Nutrients Digestibility, and Energy and Protein Metabolism. International Journal of Poultry Science, 6: 187-194.
DOI: 10.3923/ijps.2007.187.194
URL: https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=ijps.2007.187.194
DOI: 10.3923/ijps.2007.187.194
URL: https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=ijps.2007.187.194