Abstract
This study was conducted to determine the growth performance, organ weights, and selected blood parameters of replacement laying pullets (development phase) fed increasing levels of wheat bran (WB). A total of 240 70-d-old White Leghorn pullets (Hybrid L-33) were evaluated for seven weeks. Birds were assigned to three dietary treatments according to a completely randomized design. Treatments consisted of diets containing 100 (T1), 150 (T2), or 200 g/kg (T3) of WB in partial replacement of corn, with 10 replicates per treatment of eight birds per replicate. Birds fed T2 presented higher body weight (p<0.05) compared with T1 and T3 (1112.52 to 1163.35 g). Also, T2 birds presented higher methionine plus cystine intake relative to T1 (0.38 to 0.40 g/bird/day). Likewise, a higher inclusion of WB (200 g/kg) increased crude fiber (2.29 to 2.63 g/bird/day) and crude fat (1.98 to 3.58 g/bird/day) intakes (p<0.05). However, the experimental treatments did not affect the relative weight of the organs or small intestine and cecum length (p>0.05). Serum concentration of triacylglycerols, cholesterol, calcium, phosphorus, hematocrit, or hemoglobin levels were not significantly different (p>0.05) among treatments. These findings indicate a beneficial effect of use of 150 g/kg of wheat bran on the growth performance of pullets during the development phase; however, the inclusion of this cereal up to 200 g/kg had no effect on organ weights and blood parameters.