The Metabolizable Energy of Waxy vs. Normal Corn for Poultry

Waxy corn sometimes becomes available to the feed industry when its supply exceeds the demand of the wet milling industry. Several research papers in the past have evaluated the feeding value and/or metabolizable energy (ME) of waxy as opposed to normal corn. Unfortunately, several artifacts present in most of these studies complicate an interpretation of published data. True metabolizable energy (TMEn) assays were conducted on three sets of normal and waxy versions of the same corn hybrids. It was confirmed that corn hybrids vary in metabolizable energy. The TMEn of the three normal hybrids used in this study ranged from 3883 to 4024 kcal/kg (dry basis). However, results do not indicate a difference in TMEn of waxy vs. normal corn of the same hybrid. Thus, when formulating poultry rations with waxy corn, there is no reason to make any adjustment in metabolizable energy unless the specific hybrid is known to be low or high in caloric or protein value.