ABSTRACT
Cereal grain provides the major energy source in diets for poultry and pigs. This chapter reports our preliminary findings on feeding experiments with poultry and pigs in which wheat was sprouted under controlled conditions designed to simulate the field sprouting of wheat. It shows that there are considerable changes in the physical and chemical composition of wheat due to sprouting. Although there are studies on the effects of sprouting on the nutrient content of wheat and on animal performance, there remains uncertainty regarding the changes in important nutrients such as metabolisable energy and in feeding value. The chapter describes the improved performance of weaner pigs fed on diets which contained sprouted wheat. The apparent metabolisable energy of wheat was not reduced due to severe sprouting, and there were no detrimental effects of inclusion of sprouted wheat in diets for pigs and poultry.
