Wheat is the preferentially grown cereal in many European countries. However, different
wheat cultivars vary with respect to their apparent metabolisable energy (AME)
values which is the reason why the quality of wheat for broiler
chickens in some cases may be questioned Rye
is the cereal of light sandy soils, which prevail in Poland, where about 3.2 million tonnes
of rye is used for feeding purposes. However, it is well known that despite the better
amino acid composition of protein, the feeding value of rye is inferior as compared to
other cereals, especially when fed to young chickens Triticale was created to combine wheat quality with rye winter
hardiness and disease resistance as well as to utilize the hybrid vigour
Octo- and hexaploid triticale, with a minority genome (shares 1:3 and 1:2) may not negatively
affect the performance results of broiler chickens and may successfully replace
a part of the wheat in broiler diets However, in contrast to wheat or
rye, not much information is available about new varieties of triticale in broiler nutrition.