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Understanding Corn Variability, Edgar O. Oviedo-Rondón

Proceedings of the Arkansas Nutrition Conference

Corn is the most common feed ingredient used in poultry nutrition. Maize contributes with up to 65% of the metabolizable energy and 20% of crude protein in poultry diets (Gehring et al., 2013; Dei, 2017). Its average nutritional value is well-known, but it is accepted that the variability in its composition and energy value is a very common issue with great impact on poultry performance and health (Cowieson, 2005; Gehring et al., 2013; Latham et al., 2016; Montanhini-Neto et al., 2017). Corn variability affects growth, feed conversion, flock uniformity, digestibility, AMEn, digesta viscosity, gut microbiota composition, …