To study the effect of cell-wall degrading enzymes on the nutrient efficiency of young chickens fed different grains, an in vitro experiment was conducted to determine the range of viscosities of seven local wheat varieties. From these, the highest (Flaat) and the lowest (Ghods) were selected for an in vivo study. 288 day-old Arian chickens were kept in cages and fed one of four grains (Flaat, Ghods, Triticale, and Corn) with or without a die-tary NSP degrading enzyme in a 4×2 factorial arrangement with six replicates per treat-ment. An indigestible marker (chromic oxide) was used for digestibility measurements. Feed and water were provided ad libitum. Excreta samples were collected from 18-21 days of the experiment. Apparent metabolizable energy corrected for nitrogen (AMEn) was improved (P<0.05) in all diets by enzyme supplementation except the corn diet. The ap-parent lipid digestibility (ALD) and apparent crude carbohydrate digestibility (ACCD) of all treatments were significantly improved by adding an enzyme (P<0.01). This improve-ment was highest in the Flaat variety (highest viscosity) of wheat. The results of this ex-periment clearly indicate the positive effects of supplemental NSP degrading enzymes on nutrient digestibilities and on AMEn especially for the grains with the highest viscosity (wheat cultivar Flaat and triticale).

Keywords: Broilers, NSP degrading enzymes, Nutrient digestibility, Viscosity

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