The energy required by poultry for body tissue growth, egg production, physical activities, and maintaining normal body temperature is obtained from the carbohydrates, fats, and proteins present in the diet.
The energy consumed by poultry is utilized in three ways:
To fuel the animal’s activities.
To be converted into heat or stored in body tissues.
When the energy in the poultry diet exceeds what is needed for metabolism and normal growth, this excess energy is typically stored as fat in the body. This extra energy cannot be easily excreted from the animal’s body. Poultry nutrition is considered optimal when the diet contains the necessary nutrients for growth, egg production, or meat in proportion to the energy available in the diet.
Kleiber has described energy as the fuel of life. The majority of all food consumed by animals is used to supply energy for anabolic and catabolic reactions.
In the short term, the expansion of the digestive system affects food intake, while in the long term (over several days), blood glucose levels are a determining factor for food consumption.
In fact, the hypothalamus is influenced by both low and high glucose levels, which play a role in regulating food intake.
Over long periods (weeks), the amount of body fat is important, and the levels of certain specific amino acids in the blood also affect food consumption. Poultry generally have a significant ability to control their energy intake, which is clearly observed when they are fed diets with varying energy levels. This important mechanism forms the basis for many decisions during diet formulation.