The influence of the grinding and physical form of diets on growth performance, gastrointestinal tract (GIT) development and nutrient digestibility was studied in layer pullets from hatch to 112 d of age. Diet formed a 2 × 2 factorial with 2 hammer mill screen sizes to grind cereals (4 and 8 mm) and 2 forms (mash and crumble). A total of 864 1-day-old layer chickens were randomly assigned to 1 of the 4 treatment groups with 8 replicates (27 birds per replicate). Cumulatively, pullets fed crumbles consumed less feed (P < 0.05) and had better feed conversion ratio (FCR; P < 0.01) than those fed mash. Coarse grinding cereals (CG) improved FCR (P < 0.05) without significant change in cumulative feed consumption compared to that of fine grinding (FG). With regard to body weight gain (BWG), pullets benefited from crumbles from 1 to 56 d of age (P < 0.01). There were interactions (P < 0.05) between screen size and feed form in relation to FCR (1 to 28 d) and overall BWG. At 112 d of age, the relative weight (RW, g/100 g body weight) of the crop, gizzard, pancreas, and liver of crumble-fed birds were lower (P < 0.05) than those for birds fed mash. Pullets fed coarsely ground feed had higher RW of the crop, proventriculus, gizzard, liver, and caecum compared to those fed finely ground feed. Compared to mash feeding, pullets fed crumbles increased (P < 0.05) total tract digestibility of ether extract and crude protein and the activities of pancreatic amylase and lipase. Digestibility of ether extract (P < 0.05) and pancreatic amylase activity (P < 0.01) were higher in birds fed a CG diet than in birds fed the FG regimen. Regarding the nutrition of egg-laying pullets, crumbles might be preferred to mash feed when the main objective is to improve FCR. Data also suggested that cereals used for pullet feed can be ground more coarsely than is in current practice.
Keywords: cecal microbial composition; digestive enzyme; feed particle size and feed form; nutrient digestion; pullet growth.
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