Effects of varying wheat levels on growth performance, intestinal barrier, and cecal microbiota of broilers

IntroductionThe study aimed to investigate the potential effects of varying wheat levels in broiler diets on growth performance, intestinal barrier, and cecal microbiota.MethodsDay-old male broilers were fed the same diet until 10 d of age. Then they were randomly assigned to 1) the low-level wheat group, where inclusion of 15.0% and 25.0% wheat in the grower and finisher diet, respectively, 2) the medium-level wheat group with 30.0% and 40.0% of wheat in the grower and finisher periods; and 3) the high-level wheat dietary group, in which the grower and finisher diets contained 55.77% and 62.38% of wheat, respectively.ResultsDietary treatments unaffected the body weight at 39 d, whereas incorporating high wheat in diets significantly increased the feed intake and reduced the feed conversion ratio from 10 to 39 d (p