Response of broilers to dietary inclusions of sugarcane bagasse and protease in a reduced crude protein diet

Abstract

<p>Nutritional strategies to improve performance of broilers offered reduced crude protein (RCP) diets supplemented with crystalline amino acids are of interest to the poultry industry. We hypothesized that the dietary inclusion of moderate amounts of insoluble fibre would stimulate gizzard function and increase the retention time of digesta in the foregut allowing more time for exogenous protease to act on their substrates leading to greater digestibility of protein/amino acids and better performance of birds offered RCP diets. This study investigated the effectiveness of dietary sugarcane bagasse as an insoluble fibre source with or without an exogenous protease in RCP diets fed to broilers.</p>