Determination of apparent metabolisable energy of wheat gluten using different substitution levels in a practical diet using broiler chicks

This study was conducted to evaluate the apparent metabolisable energy (AME) and true metabolisable energy (TME) values of wheat gluten in growing broiler chicks (Ross 308) using two experiments in a completely randomized design. In the first experiment, total collection and marker tecniques were used to deterimine AME and AMEn values of wheat gluten using a corn- soyabean reference diet and three test diets in which 5, 10 and 15% corn and soybean fractions were substituted with wheat gluten. In the second experiment, eighteen.48-d-old male broiler chicks were used to determine TME and TMEn of wheat gluten according to the Sibbald force feeding method. According to the results of the first experiment, level of gluten substitution in the reference diet significantly (P<0.05) affect AME and AMEn values of wheat gluten.The highest AME and AMEn values for wheat gluten belonged to the highest (15%) level compared to the lowest (5%) substitution level. The average TME and TMEn values of wheat gluten measured by force feeding method (in the secod experiment) also obtained 4912 and 4934 kcal/kg, respectively. Collectly, the results showed that in replacement of practical diet method using 15% substitution level resultes in more precision estimation of wheat gluten AME in growing chickens.