Mohammadreza Abdollahi

Citation

Thesis Title
Influence of feed processing on the performance, nutrient utilisation and gut development of poultry and feed quality

Mr Abdollahi investigated the effects of pelleting temperature in relation to grain type (maize, wheat and sorghum) on the physical pellet quality, performance and nutrient utilisation of meat chickens. Under the conventional pelleting process, which uses high temperatures, good pellet quality is obtained at the expense of nutritional quality. His findings showed that the balance between the negative effect of high pelleting temperatures on nutrient availability and the positive effect on pellet quality is relevant in determining the performance of poultry. Negative effects of high temperatures on the nutrient availability of pelleted diets have not been delineated previously due to the combined effects of pelleting temperature and feed form when investigating pelleted diets. Another important finding was that good quality pellets can be manufactured at low conditioning temperatures by pre-conditioning addition of moisture and pellet die manipulations.

Supervisors
Professor Ravi Ravindran
Associate Professor Tim Wester
Dr Rana Ravindran