EFFECTS OF FEEDING DIETS BASED ON WHEAT BREAD OR OAT BRAN BREAD TO BROILER-CHICKENS

Broiler chickens (Ross) of mixed sexes were fed diets based on wheat bread or bread where part of the wheat flour had been replaced by oat bran (oat bran bread). Diets were fed with and without supplementation of a fibre-degrading enzymes preparation in order to study the effects of dietary fibres on animal production, serum cholesterol concentration and carcass composition. The oat bran bread diet gave the lowest growth and poorest feed conversion efficiency of all diets. However, enzyme supplementation significantly improved live weight, cumulative feed intake and feed conversion efficiency. No significant improvements due to enzyme supplementation were observed for the diet based on wheat bread. Enzyme supplementation to the oat bran bread diet also resulted in increases in serum lipid concentrations to levels similar to those of birds fed the wheat bread diets. Carcasses of birds fed unsupplemented oat bran bread generally had lower fat and significantly higher protein contents in comparison with those of birds fed the other diets. © 1993 Academic Press Limited.