AMINO ACID DIGESTIBILITY OF RAPESEED MEAL FED TO CHICKENS: EFFECTS OF FAT AND LYSINE SUPPLEMENTATION

Abstract

An experiment was carried out to evaluate the amino acid digestibility of commercial rapeseed meal fed at a level of 30% as the only source of protein in the diet of chickens. The effects of supplementing the experimental diets with 3.5% vegetable fat or 0.25% L-lysine were also investigated. Each diet was fed ad libitum to four colostomized chickens, housed in individual cages. At the end of the experiment, a protein-free diet was fed to permit the measurement of true digestibility. The results showed that the digestibility coefficients for 16 amino acids of rapeseed meal ranged from 44 to 72% and from 63 to 80% for the apparent and true digestibility coefficients, respectively. Of the dietary supplements used, fat caused a greater increase in amino acid digestibility than did L-lysine.