Table 4.
Influence of broiler age on the retention (% of intake) of dry matter (DM) and nitrogen (N), apparent metabolizable energy (AME; kcal/kg DM basis) and nitrogen-corrected AME (AMEn; kcal/kg DM basis) of sorghum grain1.
| Age (wk) | DM retention | N retention | AME | AMEn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 86.5 | 56.6 | 3,862 | 3,762 |
| 2 | 80.9 | 32.8 | 3,671 | 3,614 |
| 3 | 80.8 | 34.4 | 3,681 | 3,621 |
| 4 | 80.7 | 35.1 | 3,695 | 3,633 |
| 5 | 79.3 | 36.5 | 3,628 | 3,566 |
| 6 | 79.1 | 33.8 | 3,616 | 3,556 |
| SEM2 | 0.66 | 1.80 | 26 | 24 |
| Orthogonal polynomial contrast, P ≤ | ||||
| Linear | 0.001 | 0.001 | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Quadratic | 0.002 | 0.001 | 0.019 | 0.072 |
1
Each value represents the mean of six replicates. The number of birds per replicate cage were 10 (wk 1) and 8 (wk 2–6).
2
Pooled standard error of mean.