NUTRITIVE AND ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF WHEAT CULTIVARS WITH VARYING PROTEIN LEVELS: AMINO AND FATTY ACID COMPOSITION AND PERFORMANCE IN CHICK AND POULT DIETS

Wheat cultivars ranging in crude protein from 10.8 to 17.1% were fed in computer formulated diets to chicks and poults. The growth rate of chicks increased as the protein level of wheat decreased in order of cultivars Chinook, Inia 66, Glenlea and Lemhi 53. The differences were related to the dietary amino acid balance and are attributed in part to the improved amino acid balance of the lower protein wheats and also to the greater proportion of soybean meal used in the diets containing lower protein wheats. Poults fed Chinook and Pitic grew more rapidly than those fed either Inia 66 or Glenlea, but not Lemhi 53. The growth rate of poults was not related to the protein level of the wheat. Feed conversion of diets based on Chinook, Inia 66, Glenlea and Lemhi 55 did not differ in either chick or poult studies. The diet based on Pitic 62, fed only to poults, was more efficiently converted than diets based on the other wheat cultivars. The cost of meat production increased with both chicks and poults as the protein level of the wheat decreased with the ingredient prices that prevailed at the time of study. Amino acid composition of the wheat cultivars fed, and fatty acid composition of a total of 30 wheat cultivars are presented.