Replacement of Corn with Different Levels of Wheat Impacted the Growth Performance, Intestinal Development, and Cecal Microbiota of Broilers
Luxin Liu,
Zilin Wang,
Bin Wei,
Leilei Wang,
Qianqian Zhang,
Xuemeng Si,
Yanqun Huang,
Huaiyong Zhang,
Wen Chen
Affiliations
Luxin Liu
Key Laboratory of Animal Biochemistry and Nutrition, College of Animal Science and Technology, Ministry of Agriculture, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China
Zilin Wang
Key Laboratory of Animal Biochemistry and Nutrition, College of Animal Science and Technology, Ministry of Agriculture, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China
Bin Wei
Key Laboratory of Animal Biochemistry and Nutrition, College of Animal Science and Technology, Ministry of Agriculture, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China
Leilei Wang
Key Laboratory of Animal Biochemistry and Nutrition, College of Animal Science and Technology, Ministry of Agriculture, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China
Qianqian Zhang
Key Laboratory of Animal Biochemistry and Nutrition, College of Animal Science and Technology, Ministry of Agriculture, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China
Xuemeng Si
Key Laboratory of Animal Biochemistry and Nutrition, College of Animal Science and Technology, Ministry of Agriculture, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China
Yanqun Huang
Key Laboratory of Animal Biochemistry and Nutrition, College of Animal Science and Technology, Ministry of Agriculture, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China
Huaiyong Zhang
Key Laboratory of Animal Biochemistry and Nutrition, College of Animal Science and Technology, Ministry of Agriculture, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China
Wen Chen
Key Laboratory of Animal Biochemistry and Nutrition, College of Animal Science and Technology, Ministry of Agriculture, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China
Replacing corn with different levels of wheat in the iso-energy and -protein diet of broilers and the impacts on growth performance and intestinal homeostasis of broilers under the condition of supplying the multienzyme complex were evaluated in this study. A total of 480 10-day-old male broilers were assigned randomly to the low-level wheat group (15% wheat and 35.18% corn), the medium-level wheat group (30% and 22.27%), and the high-level wheat group (55.77% wheat without corn) until 21 d. The different levels of wheat supplementation did not affect hepatic function, serum glycolipid profile, or bone turnover. The replacement of corn with 55% wheat in the diet of broilers increased the body weight at 21 d and feed intake during 10 to 21 d (both p p p p < 0.05). In addition, the diet containing 30–55% wheat enhanced the anti-inflammatory capability in both the ileum and the serum. These findings suggest that the replacement of corn with 55% wheat in the diet improved the growth performance of 21-day-old broilers, which might be linked to the alteration in intestinal morphology and cecal microbiota.
