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Seven separate experiments were conducted with Hy-Line W-36 hens to determine the ideal ratio of Arg, Ile, Met, Met+Cys, Thr, Trp, and Val relative to Lys for maximal egg mass. The experiments were conducted simultaneously and were each designed as a randomized complete block design with 60 experimental units (each consisting of 1 cage with 2 hens) and 5 dietary treatments. The 35 assay diets were made from a common basal diet (2,987 kcal/kg of ME; 12.3% CP; 4.06% Ca, 0.47% nonphytate P), formulated using corn, soybean meal, and meat and bone meal. The true digestible amino acid contents in the basal diet were determined using the precision-fed assay with adult cecectomized roosters. Crystalline L-Arg (free base), L-Ile, L-Lys.HCl, DL-Met, L-Thr, L-Trp, and L-Val (considered 100% true digestible) were added to the basal diet at the expense of cornstarch to make the respective assayed amino acid first limiting and to yield 5 graded inclusions of the assayed amino acid. Hens were fed the assay diets from 26 to 34 wk of age, with the first 2 wk considered a depletion period. Egg production was recorded daily and egg weight was determined weekly on eggs collected over 48 h; egg mass was calculated as egg production x egg weight. The requirement for each amino acid was determined using the broken-line regression method. Consumption of Arg did not affect egg mass, thus a requirement could not be determined. The true digestible amino acid requirements used to calculate the ideal amino acid ratio for maximum egg mass were 426 mg/d of Ile, 538 mg/d of Lys, 253 mg/d of Met, 506 mg/d of Met+Cys, 414 mg/d of Thr, 120 mg/d of Trp, and 501 mg/d of Val. The ideal amino acid ratio for maximum egg mass was Ile 79%, Met 47%, Met+Cys 94%, Thr 77%, Trp 22%, and Val 93% on a true digestible basis relative to Lys. The ideal Met and Met+Cys ratios were verified in an ensuing identical experiment with 52- to 58-wk-old hens.

A study was conducted to determine the influence on broiler chicken growth and laying hen performance of chemical and physical traits of corn kernels from different hybrids. A total of 720 male 1-d-old Ross-308 broiler chicks were allotted to floor pens in 2 replicated experiments with a randomized complete block design. A total of 240 fifty-two-week-old Hy-Line W-36 laying hens were allotted to cages in a randomized complete block design. Corn-soybean meal diets were formulated for 3 broiler growth phases and one 14-wk-long laying hen phase to be marginally deficient in Lys and TSAA to allow for the detection of differences or correlations attributable to corn kernel chemical or physical traits. The broiler chicken diets were also marginally deficient in Ca and nonphytate P. Within a phase, corn- and soybean-based diets containing equal amounts of 1 of 6 different corn hybrids were formulated. The corn hybrids were selected to vary widely in chemical and physical traits. Feed consumption and BW were recorded for broiler chickens every 2 wk from 0 to 6 wk of age. Egg production was recorded daily, and feed consumption and egg weights were recorded weekly for laying hens between 53 and 67 wk of age. Physical and chemical composition of kernels was correlated with performance measures by multivariate ANOVA. Chemical and physical kernel traits were weakly correlated with performance in broiler chickens from 0 to 2 wk of age (P<0.05, | r |<0.42). However, from 4 to 6 wk of age and 0 to 6 wk of age, only kernel chemical traits were correlated with broiler chicken performance (P<0.05, | r |<0.29). From 53 to 67 wk of age, correlations were observed between both kernel physical and chemical traits and laying hen performance (P<0.05, | r |<0.34). In both experiments, the correlations of performance measures with individual kernel chemical and physical traits for any single kernel trait were not large enough to base corn hybrid selection on for feeding poultry.

The apparent DE and ME values of crude glycerol for growing pigs were determined in 5 experiments using crude glycerol (86.95% glycerol) from a biodiesel production facility, which used soybean oil as the initial feedstock. Dietary treatments were 0, 5, or 10% glycerol addition to basal diets in Exp. 1; 0, 5, 10, or 20% glycerol addition to basal diets in Exp. 2; and 0 and 10% crude glycerol addition to the basal diets in Exp. 3, 4, and 5. Each diet was fed twice daily to pigs in individual metabolism crates. After a 10-d adjustment period, a 5-d balance trial was conducted. During the collection period, feces and urine were collected separately after each meal and stored at 0 degrees C until analyses. The GE of each dietary treatment and samples of urine and feces from each pig were determined by isoperibol bomb calorimetry. Digestible energy of the diet was calculated by subtracting fecal energy from the GE in the feed, whereas ME was calculated by subtracting the urinary energy from DE. The DE and ME values of crude glycerol were estimated as the slope of the linear relationship between either DE or ME intake from the experimental diet and feed intake. Among all experiments, the crude glycerol (86.95% glycerol) examined in this study was shown to have a DE of 3,344 +/- 8 kcal/kg and an ME of 3,207 +/- 10 kcal/kg, thereby providing a highly available energy source for growing pigs.

Corn kernel composition may affect its nutritive value and, thus, pig growth performance and carcass characteristics. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of the chemical and physical traits of corn kernels from different hybrids on the growth performance and carcass characteristics of pigs. A total of 288 crossbred pigs were grown in a 3-phase program from 21 kg of BW until slaughter at 113 kg of BW with 12 pens (4 pigs/pen) per dietary treatment. Target BW for each phase were 20 to 40 kg (grower 1), 40 to 80 kg (grower 2), and 80 to 120 kg (finisher). In each phase, diets were formulated to be marginally deficient in Lys, TSAA, Ca, Na, and nonphytate P to improve the likelihood of detecting differences in performance due to corn hybrid. Each of 6 corn hybrids represented a wide range of kernel chemical and physical traits and was substituted for corn in a common diet formulation on an equal weight basis to make the 6 dietary treatments. Physical and chemical composition of the kernels were analyzed and correlated with performance measures by multivariate ANOVA. Kernel density was correlated with i.m. fat (IMF) content in LM (r = -.35, P < 0.05). Stenvert grinding time was correlated (P < 0.05) with ADG during the grower 1 phase (r = 0.26), ADFI during the grower 2 phase (r = 0.27), final BW (r = 0.27), and IMF (r = -0.36). The amylose content of the cornstarch was correlated (P < 0.05) with ADG during the grower 2 phase (r = -0.28) and with BW at the end of the grower 2 phase (r = -0.27). The NDF content of the kernels was correlated (P < 0.05) with ADG during the finisher phase (r = -0.30), final BW (r = -0.33), and number of days to market (r = 0.31). The ADF content of the kernels was correlated (P < 0.05) with ADG during the grower 1 phase (r = -0.26), final BW (r = -0.26), and IMF (r = 0.31). The correlations of performance measure variation with individual kernel hybrid physical and chemical traits were statistically significant yet not large enough to base corn hybrid selection for feeding pigs on any single kernel chemical or physical trait.

An experiment was conducted with laying hens to determine the AME(n) value of crude glycerol, a coproduct of biodiesel production. Crude glycerol (87% glycerol, 9% water, 0.03% methanol, 1.26% Na, and 3,625 kcal/kg of gross energy) was obtained from a commercial biodiesel production facility (Ag Processing Inc., Sergeant Bluff, IA). A total of forty-eight 40-wk-old laying hens (Hy-Line W-36) were placed in metabolic cages (2 hens/ cage) and given free access to the experimental diets. A corn and soybean meal-based basal diet (18% CP, 2,875 kcal/kg of AME(n), 4.51% Ca, 0.51% nonphytate P) was formulated with 15% glucose.H(2)O and 1% Celite. Four dietary treatments were created by substituting 0, 5, 10, or 15% crude glycerol for glucose.H(2)O (3,640 kcal/kg of AME(n)). After 7 d of dietary adaptation, excreta were collected twice daily for 3 d, freeze-dried, and analyzed for contents of DM, Kjeldahl N, acid-insoluble ash, and gross energy. Egg production was recorded daily, and eggs were collected on d 7 and 8 of the experiment for calculation of egg mass (egg production x egg weight). Feed consumption was measured over the 10-d experimental period. Egg-production data were analyzed by ANOVA with 4 treatments and 6 replications in a completely randomized experimental design. The AME(n) value of crude glycerol was estimated as the slope of the linear relationship between the inclusion rate of dietary crude glycerol and the glucose-corrected AME(n) value of the experimental diets. No significant treatment effects (P > 0.1) were apparent for egg-production rate (93.0%), egg weight (56.1 g), egg mass (52.2 g/d), or feed consumption (104 g/d). Linear regression analysis (P < 0.001, r(2) = 0.92, n = 24) revealed that the AME(n) value of the crude glycerol used in this study was 3,805 +/- 238 kcal/kg (mean +/- SEM; as-is basis) for laying hens.

Three experiments were conducted to investigate effects of dietary manipulations to improve growth performance and whole-body composition of broiler chicks fed low-protein diets supplemented with crystalline amino acids. In all experiments, male chicks (1 d old) were fed a common corn-soybean meal diet (23% CP) for 7 d and subsequently allotted to treatment diets in a completely randomized design (10 chicks per floor pen, six replications). Chicks had free access to the isoenergetic diets (3,200 kcal MEn/kg) for 2 wk, after which chicks were weighed and then fasted for 24 h, and the whole-body DM, N, and ether extract contents of two chicks per pen (and six baseline chicks) were determined. In Experiment 1, Gln or Asn replaced 1% triammonium citrate in the low-protein diet (19% CP). In Experiments 2 and 3, dietary concentrations of crystalline essential and nonessential amino acids, respectively, were increased incrementally in the low-protein diets (19 to 20% CP). In all experiments, chicks fed low-protein diets grew slower, used feed less efficiently, and retained less N and more ether extract than chicks fed the control diets (P < or = 0.05), despite additions of crystalline Gln or Asn and despite increased dietary concentrations of crystalline essential and nonessential amino acids. Chicks fed low-protein diets excreted less N (P < 0.001) than did chicks fed the high-protein diets, and N excretion increased linearly (P < 0.001) with N intake. In summary, low-protein diets failed to support equal growth performance to that of high-protein control diets.