Effect of the particle size and the substitution level on the energy values of meat and bone meal for broiler chicks

The objective of this work was to determine the apparent metabolizable energy (AME) and nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolizable energy (AMEn) of meat and bone meal (MBM) with different particle sizes (coarse, medium and fine), in two levels of substitution (20 and 40%) for broiler chicks. Two hundred and eighty broiler chicks with 15 days of age were allotted to a completely randomized design, with seven treatments (six treatments with meat and bone meal and a reference diet), four replicates and ten birds per experimental unit. The AME mean values for the 20 and 40% of substitution were 2.60 and 2.27 and the EMAn 2.50 and 2.14 Kcal/g DM, respectively. The results, considering coarse, medium and fine particle sizes of the MBM, were 2.13, 2.65 and 2.53 kcal/g DM for AME, and 2.03, 2.56 and 2.37 kcal/g DM to AMEn, respectively.