Table 2.
Ingredient composition and nutrient levels of the basic diet of artificial crop milk1.
| Items | Content, % |
|---|---|
| Corn | 40.55 |
| Wheat | 14.67 |
| Pea | 6.01 |
| Sorghum | 18.77 |
| Soybean meal | 10.00 |
| Fish meal | 1.00 |
| Premixs2 | 2.00 |
| Canola oil | 2.00 |
| Casein | 5.00 |
| Total | 100.00 |
| Calculated nutrients3, % | |
| Metabolizable energy (MJ/kg) | 13.04 |
| Crude protein | 17.77 |
| Crude fat | 4.69 |
| Calcium | 0.15 |
| Total phosphorous | 0.38 |
| Analyzed nutrients, % | |
| Crude protein | 17.89 |
| Crude fat | 4.83 |
| Calcium | 0.27 |
| Total phosphorous | 0.54 |
All feeds were fed at 8.00, 12.00 and 18.00 hours each day from 7 D to 25 D. The feeds were offered to young pigeons in EW group by hand.
The premixes provided the following per kg of diet: Vitamin A 2,500 IU, Vitamin D3 500 IU, Vitamin E 2,500 IU, Vitamin k3 500 IU, Vitamin B1 500 IU, Vitamin B3 500 IU, Vitamin B3 500 IU; CU (as copper sulphate) 10 mg, Fe (as ferrous sulfate) 100 mg, Mn (as manganese sulfate) 50 mg, Zn (as zinc sulfate) 80 mg.
Nutrition values and metabolizable energy values determined in pigeons were calculated from table of feed composition and nutritive values in China (31st edition, 2020). A previous study reported that there was not significant difference between chicken and pigeons on metabolizable energy values (Hullar et al., 1999).