Calculating ammo acid needs of broilers and turkeys: Taking into account changing requirements with age

摘要

The procedure developed Dr Robert Harms at the University of Florida for calculating amino acid requirements of laying hens has been modified for use with broilers and turkeys. Egg mass in the layer formula has been replaced with grams of gain, so that the requirement of amino acid per gram of gain increases with age. Diets used in research to evaluate nutrient requirements of poultry are formulated on a percentage basis. This usually results in requirements expressed as a percentage of the diet, which is the percentage of that nutrient needed for the animals used in that experiment. The US National Research Council's 1994 report suggests percentages of nutrients of the diet for all poultry, based on evaluation of published data. Estimating daily amino acid need and feed intake of laying hens shows the way forward for similar calculations for broiler chickens and turkeys.