Effects of newly harvested corn on growth performance, intestine development and metabolism of nutrients in broilers

Figures & data

Table 1. Nutrients level of newly harvested corn and ageing corn.

Items	Groups
	Newly harvested corn	Ageing corn
Volume weight (g/L)	745	760
Water (%)	16.05	13.60
Dry matter (%)	83.95	86.40
GE (MJ/kg)	16.08	16.63
Crude protein (%)	7.70	7.80
Calcium (%)	0.02	0.02
TP (%)	0.28	0.27
NPP (%)	0.05	0.05

GE: gross energy; TP: total phosphorous; NPP: non-phytate phosphorous.

The determination of the content of, crude protein, calcium, total phosphorous and non-phytate phosphorous were based on air dry basis.

Table 2. Composition and nutrient levels of the basal diet (air dry basis).

Items	Content
	1–21 days	22–42 days
Ingredients (g/kg)
Corn	593.8	629.0
Soya bean	313.4	262.7
Corn gluten meal	40.0	40.0
Soya bean oil	12.2	28.5
Limestone	13.0	12.6
CaHPO4	15.0	15.0
DL-Met	1.9	1.2
Lys	1.1	1.4
NaCl	3.0	3.0
Choline chloride	3.0	3.0
Aureomycin	1.0	1.0
Microelements	0.3	0.3
Vitamins	2.0	2.0
Thr	0.3	0.3
Nutrient levels
ME (MJ/kg)	12.12	12.75
CP %	21.34	19.25
Ca %	1.03	1.00
Total phosphorus %	0.70	0.70
NPP %	0.47	0.47
SID Lys %	1.05	0.93
SID Met + Cys %	0.79	0.68
SID Trp %	0.18	0.17
SID Thr %	0.56	0.56

Premixes provide the following per kg of diet: Vitamin A, 7715 IU; Vitamin D, 2755 IU; Vitamin E, 8.8 IU; Vitamin K, 2.2 mg; Vitamin B₂, 4.41 mg; Vitamin B₃, 5.51 mg; Vitamin B₆, 0.55 mg; nicotinic acid, 19.8 mg; folic acid, 0.28 mg; Mn, 50 mg; Iron, 25 mg; Cu, 2.5 mg; Zn, 50 mg; I, 1.0 mg; and Se, 0.15 mg.

Metabolisable energy and SID AA are calculated, whereas all other values are analysed.

Nutritive level of the material is referenced by Analysis of Nutritional Value of Feed Ingredients in China (Evonik Industries AG 2014).SID: standardized ileal digestible.

Table 3. Effects of newly harvested corn on growth performance in broilers.

Days	Items	Groups				p-value
		AC group	1/3 NC group	2/3 NC group	NC group
1–21 days	ADG(g)	47.61 ± 2.03	45.82 ± 2.69	46.31 ± 2.02	45.62 ± 1.40	.826
	ADFI(g)	69.32 ± 2.22	68.10 ± 2.44	68.36 ± 2.09	67.33 ± 2.22	.738
	F/G	1.46 ± 0.02	1.49 ± 0.04	1.48 ± 0.04	1.48 ± 0.03	.453
22–42 days	ADG(g)	89.27 ± 10.88	89.80 ± 6.98	90.12 ± 7.17	82.83 ± 4.80	.674
	ADFI(g)	174.03 ± 14.30	169.20 ± 8.31	169.73 ± 10.28	167.77 ± 5.83	.538
	F/G	1.96 ± 0.11^a,b	1.89 ± 0.07^b	1.89 ± 0.06^b	2.03 ± 0.06^a	.012
1–42 days	ADG(g)	68.44 ± 5.53	67.81 ± 4.25	68.22 ± 4.14	64.22 ± 2.68	.579
	ADFI(g)	121.68 ± 7.33	118.65 ± 4.98	119.05 ± 5.66	117.55 ± 3.07	.894
	F/G	1.78 ± 0.06^a,b	1.75 ± 0.04^b	1.75 ± 0.04^b	1.83 ± 0.04^a	.028

In the same row, values with the same small letter or no letter superscripts mean no significant difference (p > .05), while values with adjacent small letter superscripts mean a significant difference (p < .05)

AC: ageing corn; NC: newly harvested corn; ADG: average daily gain; ADFI: average daily feed intake; F/G: feed:gain ratio.

Table 4. Effects of newly harvested corn on intestine development in broilers.

Days	Weight of intestine	Groups				p-value
		AC group	1/3 NC group	2/3 NC group	NC group
21 d	Absolute weight of duodenum /g	5.12 ± 0.18	5.36 ± 0.24	5.38 ± 0.22	5.01 ± 0.15	.383
	Absolute weight of jejunum /g	8.95 ± 0.22^a	8.26 ± 0.36^ab	8.95 ± 0.37^a	7.38 ± 0.28^b	.038
	Absolute weight of ileum /g	7.04 ± 0.33	7.92 ± 0.34	6.92 ± 0.24	7.15 ± 0.31	.158
	Absolute weight of caecum /g	2.50 ± 0.30^ab	3.16 ± 0.20^a	2.65 ± 0.19^ab	2.46 ± 0.11^b	.043
	Relative weight of duodenum /%	0.64 ± 0.11	0.63 ± 0.14	0.64 ± 0.08	0.68 ± 0.09	.561
	Relative weight of jejunum /%	1.12 ± 0.08	0.97 ± 0.12	1.05 ± 0.08	1.02 ± 0.12	.476
	Relative weight of ileum /%	0.88 ± 0.10	0.93 ± 0.22	0.81 ± 0.13	0.96 ± 0.09	.894
	Relative weight of caecum %	0.31 ± 0.05^b	0.37 ± 0.03^a	0.31 ± 0.04^b	0.36 ± 0.05^a	.035
42 d	Absolute weight of duodenum /g	12.25 ± 1.22	14.02 ± 0.85	11.24 ± 1.86	10.50 ± 1.32	.109
	Absolute weight of jejunum /g	18.25 ± 1.31^ab	20.29 ± 1.20^a	15.03 ± 1.53^ab	11.96 ± 1.12^b	.044
	Absolute weight of ileum /g	21.38 ± 1.32	25.03 ± 1.96	18.12 ± 1.56	19.98 ± 2.20	.526
	Absolute weight of caecum /g	7.88 ± 1.24	7.22 ± 1.38	7.46 ± 2.01	7.16 ± 1.86	.324
	Relative weight of duodenum /%	0.40 ± 0.06	0.45 ± 0.08	0.36 ± 0.04	0.37 ± 0.05	.107
	Relative weight of jejunum /%	0.61 ± 0.07^a	0.65 ± 0.10^a	0.48 ± 0.07^ab	0.45 ± 0.05^b	.029
	Relative weight of ileum /%	0.76 ± 0.20	0.80 ± 0.19	0.58 ± 0.08	0.70 ± 0.19	.143
	Relative weight of caecum %	0.26 ± 0.06	0.23 ± 0.04	0.24 ± 0.03	0.25 ± 0.05	.289

Absolute weight of intestine were only for reference.

AC: ageing corn; NC: newly harvested corn.

In the same row, values with the same small letter or no letter superscripts mean no significant difference (p > .05), while values with adjacent small letter superscripts mean a significant difference (p < .05).

Table 5. Effects of newly harvested corn on activities of digestive enzymes in duodenum in broilers.

Days	Items	Groups				p-value
		AC group	1/3 NC group	2/3 NC group	NC group
21d	Protease (U/mgprot)	47.63 ± 3.36^a	18.43 ± 4.25^b	47.64 ± 3.58^a	19.93 ± 2.52^b	.038
	Amylase (U/mgprot)	37.38 ± 3.14^a	17.25 ± 2.85^b	33.50 ± 2.87^a	12.92 ± 1.52^b	.021
42d	Protease (U/mgprot)	12.91 ± 1.21	13.16 ± 1.03	16.89 ± 1.66	12.98 ± 0.98	.576
	Amylase (U/mgprot)	32.72 ± 1.18	32.99 ± 1.65	26.95 ± 2.58	23.09 ± 2.51	.653

AC: ageing corn; NC: newly harvested corn.

In the same row, values with the same small letter or no letter superscripts mean no significant difference (p > .05), while values with adjacent small letter superscripts mean a significant difference (p < .05).

Table 6. Effects of newly harvested corn on activities of digestive enzymes in jejunum in broilers.

Days	Items	Groups				p-value
		AC group	1/3 NC group	2/3 NC group	NC group
21d	Maltase (U/mgprot)	51.85 ± 3.24	55.02 ± 2.51	42.71 ± 3.17	56.48 ± 2.08	.874
	Sucrase (U/mgprot)	24.25 ± 1.12	25.13 ± 1.06	14.04 ± 0.72	12.52 ± 0.84	.533
	Lactase (U/mgprot)	6.85 ± 0.82	14.22 ± 0.39	14.42 ± 1.01	4.20 ± 0.49	.476
42d	Maltase (U/mgprot)	29.28 ± 3.80	30.78 ± 2.63	24.10 ± 3.12	38.35 ± 7.25	.668
	Sucrase (U/mgprot)	1.83 ± 0.26	1.97 ± 0.32	3.72 ± 0.45	4.35 ± 0.62	.528
	Lactase (U/mgprot)	5.37 ± 0.91	6.95 ± 0.86	12.24 ± 1.12	10.59 ± 1.04	.875

AC: ageing corn; NC: newly harvested corn.

Table 7. Effects of newly harvested corn on metabolism of nutrients in broilers.

Items	Groups				p-value
	AC group	1/3 NC group	2/3 NC group	NC group
AME (MJ/kg)	12.86 ± 0.18	12.88 ± 0.29	12.89 ± 0.28	13.07 ± 0.25	.925
Crude protein (%)	58.33 ± 2.38	57.96 ± 2.86	58.69 ± 1.30	57.72 ± 1.84	.893
Calcium (%)	56.76 ± 1.22^a,b	61.77 ± 5.98^a	51.50 ± 6.77^b	40.52 ± 2.32^c	.016
Phosphorus (%)	44.21 ± 4.98^a	44.96 ± 4.57^a	45.07 ± 1.93^a	37.20 ± 1.74^b	.024

AC: ageing corn; NC: newly harvested corn; AME: apparent metabolisable energy.

In the same row, values with the same small letter or no letter superscripts mean no significant difference (p > .05), while values with adjacent small letter superscripts mean a significant difference (p < .05).