Effect of various soybean meal sources and avizyme on chick growth performance and ileal digestible energy

Although it is well accepted that soybean meal (SBM) is a high-quality feed ingredient for poultry, the digestibility of the dry matter and energy in SBM are quite low. One possible means for improving the digestibility of SBM is the use of enzymes. Twelve SBM, obtained from commercial processing plants in the U.S. and other countries, were evaluated with and without the addition of Avizyme in four 2-wk broiler chick assays, The analyzed values (%) of selected nutrients (mean and range) in the SBM were: CP, 45 (40 to 49); dry matter, 88 (87 to 89); lysine, 2.9. (2.57 to 3.27); methionine, 0.69 (0.60 to 0.75); cystine, 0.64 (0.60 to 0.76). KOH protein solubility (%) in the SBM (mean and range) was 77 (71 to 83). Growth performance and ileal digestible energy (DE) for chicks were affected by SBM source (P<.01), Addition of Avizyme had no effect (P>.10) on chick growth performance but significantly increased ileal DE (P<.01). There was a significant interaction (P<.01) between SBM source and Avizyme for ileal DE, indicating that Avizyme increased ileal DE more in some SBM than in others. Results of this study indicate that chick growth performance was greatly influenced by SBM source and that both SBM source and Avizyme affected ileal DE.