Background: Protein digestibility of animal and vegetable origin can be variable due to manufacturing practices and the presence of anti-nutritional factors. To verify the availability of Empyreal 75, an in vivo digestibility study was conducted at the University of Illinois in cecectomized roosters.

Objective: Evaluate the digestibility of Empyreal 75 in cecectomized roosters.

Materials and Methods:

• Four Single-Comb White Leghorn roosters (40 weeks old) were fed about 25 grams of as-is Empyreal 75 in 25 mL of water.
• Excreta was collected for 48 hours, lyophilized, weighed, ground and the parameters analyzed.
• The ingredient was analyzed for gross energy, total metabolizable energy (TMEn) and true amino acid digestibility (TAA) in cecectomized roosters.

Results:

• The total metabolizable energy value shows digestibility of about 80%.
• True amino acid digestibility are mostly above 90%.

Obs: Correction factor for nitrogen content = 8.22 kcal/g nitrogen

• AME = (EI – E0) / FI
• TME = AME + (FEL / FI)
• TMEn = TME – (8.22 * ANR / FI) – (8.22 * FNL / FI)

Where:

• AME = apparent metabolizable energy
• EI = gross energy intake
• EO = gross energy voided of the feedstuff (excreted)
• FI = feed intake
• TME = true metabolizable energy
• FEL = fasting energy loss
• TMEn = true metabolizable energy corrected for the nitrogen content
• ANR = apparent nitrogen retained
• FNL = fasting nitrogen loss

Conclusions:

• The total metabolizable energy value for Empyreal 75, about 80%, is commonly seen in protein ingredients with extremely low fat and carbohydrates in cecectomized roosters.
• Numbers above 90% for true amino acid digestibility in roosters are excellent.
• Empyreal 75 is recognized as an outstanding, highly concentrated protein source for livestock feed, pet food and aquaculture feed.