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Abstract
1. Two experiments were conducted to measure changes in nutrient utilisation in the newly hatched broiler chicken. The first experiment determined the nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolisable energy (AMEN) and total tract digestibility of starch and fat in diets based on wheat, sorghum and maize during the first two weeks post-hatch. The second experiment was conducted to confirm the results of Experiment 1 using wheat- and maize-based diets and was of 21 d duration.
2. In both experiments, changes to AMEN with age were similar irrespective of the diet type, declining from d 3 to d 5–9 and then increasing after d 9.
3. In Experiment 1, the total tract digestibility of starch and fat exhibited a pattern similar to that of AMEN.
4. In Experiment 1, cereal effects were significant, with maize- and sorghum-based diets having higher AMEN values than the wheat-based diet. Total tract starch digestibility determined for d 5, 7 and 14 showed no cereal differences. Total tract fat digestibility on d 7 was significantly lower for the wheat- and sorghum-based diets than for the maize-based diet, but no cereal differences were observed on d 5 or 14.
5. In Experiment 2, cereal effects were significant, with the maize-based diet having a higher AMEN than the wheat-based diet.
6. These results showed that nutrient utilisation is compromised during the first week of life of the broiler chick.