Pre- and Post-Pellet Whole Grain Additions to Poultry Diets Investigated Via Nutritional Geometry

Diets containing 600 g/kg wheat were offered to 360 male Ross 308 broiler chicks as ten blends of ground wheat and whole wheat added either pre- or post-pelleting from 7 to 28 days post-hatch. A combination of 172 g/kg ground wheat, 256 g/kg pre- and 172 g/kg post-pellet whole wheat generated the optimal FCR of 1.469 as determined by a response surface design. A quadratic relationship indicated that a relative gizzard weight of 16.88 g/kg was associated with an FCR of 1.479 and there was a positive correlation (r = 0.438; P < 0.001) between relative gizzard and pancreas weights.