Open AccessRESPONSE OF LAYING HENS TO BIO-DEGRADED PALM KERNEL CAKE BASED DIETS
Author(s) -
Mosobalaje,
O. A. Abu,
O. O. Tewe,
A. A. Adedoyin
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
international journal of engineering applied science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2455-2143
DOI - 10.33564/ijeast.2019.v04i04.052
Subject(s) - palm kernel , laying , food science , palm , mathematics , kernel (algebra) , biology , palm oil , engineering , physics , structural engineering , quantum mechanics , combinatorics
Undegraded Palm Kernel Cake (UPKC) and Degraded Palm Kernel Cake (DPKC) were used in eight week feeding of layers at 0%, 10%, 20% and 30% inclusion level. One hundred and twenty, 32 week old Isa brown layers were randomly allotted to four experimental diets with three replicates of ten birds each. Pure culture of Aspergilius niger mycelium was inoculated on autoclaved palm kernel cake by Solid State Fermentation (SSF) method for ten days and used as Degraded Palm Kernel Cake (DPKC). Proximate analysis was carried out on the DPKC and UPKC, and also on the feed. Six weeks into the experiment, three birds were selected from each of the replicate for metabolic trial. The droppings were collected daily, weighed, dried and analysed for proximate content. Parameters considered included feed intake, Hen Day Production (HDP), egg weight, weight gain, Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR), mortality, economy of production and nutrient digestibility. Crude protein, gross energy, NFE and ether extract of degraded PKC increased by 6.88%, 9.33%, 4.90% and 7.80% respectively while fibre content reduced by 4.08% and ash context by 4.37%. Results on performance of birds revealed that no significant (P>0.05) differences were observed for egg production, egg weight and feed conversion ratio. Feed intake of birds fed 30% DPKC was significantly (P>0.05) lower than other treatments. However, weight gain of birds fed 30% UPKC was significantly (P<0 05) lower than those on DPKC. Higher (P<0.05) nitrogen retention, crude fibre digestibility and metabolizable energy were recorded for birds fed DPKC diets compared to those on 30% UPKC. With better nutrient utilization and weight gain, DPKC could be included at up to 30% in layer ration.