Determination of the optimum digestible isoleucine to lysine ratios for male Yield Plus × Ross 708 broilers between 1.0 and 4.0 kg body weight utilizing growth performance and carcass characteristics

Three experiments (Exp) were conducted to determine optimal digestible Ile to Lys ratios for male Yield Plus × Ross 708 broilers from approximately 1.0 to 4.0 kg BW. Broilers were fed dose-response diets with inclusions of blood cells that were formulated to contain a gradient of digestible Ile to Lys ratios (0.46 to 0.83). Treatments for Exp 1 to 3 were fed from 21 to 35, 28 to 42, and 35 to 49 d of age, respectively, to target market weights from 2.5 to 4.0 kg. Experiments utilized positive control (PC) diets that did not contain blood cells and were formulated to the same Ile ratios as Treatment 5. Birds and feed were weighed by pen on the first and last days of the experimental period to determine growth performance. Selected broilers were processed and deboned to determine carcass characteristics. For all Exp, quadratic effects (P ≤ 0.001) were observed with BW gain, feed conversion ratio (FCR), breast meat weight, and breast meat yield (BMY) as digestible Ile to Lys ratios increased. Contrasts between PC and Treatment 5 for each Exp displayed no effect of blood cell inclusion with the exception of FCR in Exp 1 (P = 0.001) and BMY in Exp 3 (P = 0.017). Optimum digestible Ile to Lys ratios for Exp 1 were determined to range from 0.640 to 0.725 for growth from 1.0 to 2.5 kg BW (P ≤ 0.001) and breast meat characteristics. In Exp 2, optimum ratios ranged from 0.664 to 0.682 for growth and breast meat characteristics from 1.6 to 3.1 kg BW (P ≤ 0.001). For growth and breast meat characteristics of broilers in Exp 3, optimum ratios ranged from 0.625 to 0.730, from 2.6 to 3.9 kg BW (P ≤ 0.001). Based on these findings, optimum digestible Ile to Lys ratios were determined to range from 0.63 to 0.73 for broilers from 1.0 to 4.0 kg BW.