Nutritive value of lupins for broilers

The nutritive value of Australian lupins for broiler chickens was assessed in a series of classical apparent metabolisable energy (AME) studies each of 7-days duration. AME values (MJ/kg dry matter) for lupin kernels ranged from 12-15 for 'L. albus' cv Kiev mutant, 8-11 for 'L. angustifolius' cv Gungurru, and 6.5-10.5 for 'L. angustifolius' cv Danja. The AME for wholeseed of 'L. luteus' was 11.4 MJ/kg dry matter. Large differences due to season and locality were evident, which is common in cereals and legumes. Removal of the seed coat (de-hulling) increased AME by approximately 24 and 15% in white and sweet lupin, respectively. The seed coats of these species do not contain anti-nutritive factors but did have an energy dilution effect. Inclusion of wholeseed of Gungurru lupin at 200 g/kg in a wheat-based diet and at 300 g/kg in a maize-based diet did not have deleterious effects on growth, feed efficiency or digesta viscosity. Excreta moisture was significantly increased by inclusion of wholeseed of Gungurru lupin at 200 g/kg in wheat-based and maize-based diets.