In the introduction to their paper published recently in International Journal of Poultry Science, Y.F. Min at the Northwest A&F University in Yangling, China and co-authors there and at the University of Arkansas in the US explain that as well as the rapid increase in maize used for production of ethanol, increasing amounts of vegetable oils and inedible animal fats are also being used in the production of biodiesel fuel. Because canola (rapeseed) produces approximately three times more oil per acre than soybeans, they say, there is a growing interest in the production of canola oil in many areas of the United States as a feedstock for biodiesel. As a result, there may be a great increase in the amount of canola meal available for use in poultry diets in the southern US broiler-producing area.

The objective of their study was to evaluate the use of a canola meal produced as a result of extraction of the oil for biodiesel fuel production in diets for growing broilers.

Day-old male broilers of a commercial strain were randomly assigned to experimental diets with 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 per cent canola meal. Diets were formulated to meet digestible amino acid requirements for periods of zero to 14 days and 15 to 28 days. Each dietary treatment was replicated six times. Body weight and feed consumption were measured at 14 and 28 days of age.

The results indicated that no significant (p>0.05) effects of canola levels were observed on feed intake, bodyweight gain, feed conversion ratio or mortality during the experimental period, compared with control diets of soybean meal.

Therefore, canola meal can be a valuable protein supplement for broilers when considered on a digestible amino acid basis, concluded Yin and co-authors. In this study, they added, 25 per cent canola meal from biodiesel production was incorporated into broiler diets on a digestible amino acid basis without any negative effects on performance.

Mortality in the control group was unusually high in the first phase of this experiment.

The researchers stressed that different processing technologies used and canola grade varieties may lead to different results, based on previously published papers investigating canola meals produced as the result of oil extraction.

Reference

Min Y.N., Z. Wang, C. Coto, F. Yan, S. Cerrate, F.Z. Liu and P.W. Waldroup. 2011. Evaluation of canola meal from biodiesel production as a feed ingredient for broilers. 2011. International Journal of Poultry Science 10 (10): 782-785.

Further Reading

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February 2012