EFFECTS OF INFRARED PROCESSING OF PEAS (PISUM-SATIVUM) ON PROTEIN DIGESTIBILITY IN CARRIER PIGEONS (COLUMBA-LIVIA-DOMESTICA)

This digestibility trial involved 16 male pigeons, allocated ad random in 2 groups of 8 animals and kept in individual metabolism cages. The experiment was carried out in order to evaluate the effect of infrared irradiation on the apparent digestibility of protein and organic matter. The micronizing process of the peas took place at 130-degrees-C during 30 seconds and resulted in a 22 p.c. loss of trypsine inhibitory activity. A first group of pigeons was fed a seed mixture containing 61.5 p.c. raw peas. The other group was fed a diet with 50 p.c. processed and 11.5 p.c. raw peas. The results suggest that in order to determine the fecal nitrogen, the determination of uric acid in the excreta of pigeons is more accurate than the lead acetate precipitation assay. The dry heat treatment did not influence the apparent digestibility of the organic matter and protein.