Enzyme supplementation of broiler chicken diets based on cereals with endosperm cell walls rich in arabinoxylans or mixed-linked β-glucans

The efficacy of an enzyme preparation added to barley and rye-based diets given to broiler chickens and containing both β-glucanase and arabinoxylanase activities, was investigated and compared with a well characterized commercial enzyme preparation containing predominantly P-glucanase activity. Both enzyme preparations significantly improved body weight, cumulative food intake and food conversion efficiency for chickens given both barley- and rye-based diets. For the barley-fed chickens, on average a notable increase in body weight of 171 g at day 13 and 477 g at day 24 was noted, for both enzyme preparations. However, the preparation containing high amounts of both β-glucanase and arabinoxylanase activities was more effective in reducing the incidence of sticky droppings for rye-fed chickens, and, in comparison with previously published data, gave an optimal response at a lower supplementation rate. The results indicate that it is possible to reduce the protein content in enzyme-supplemented broiler chicken diets.