Evaluation of the effects of rations with different levels of metabolizable energy on performance of laying hens

Subject Areas : Veterinary Clinical Pathology

Received: 2008-04-27 Accepted : 2008-08-27 Published : 2008-05-21

Keywords: Performance, laying hen, Egg traits, energy level,

Abstract :

   This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of rations with different levels of metabolizable energy on performance of laying hens. The experiment was conducted on 25 laying hens of the commercial high line W-36 strain with 4 treatments and 4 replicates (16 laying hens in each replicate) in a completely randomized design. Treatments included: (1) diet with amount of metabolizable energy recommended by NRC in 1994 (as control group), (2) diet with 10% higher level of metabolizable energy than that recommended by NRC in 1994, (3) diet with 10% lower level of metabolizable energy than that recommended by NRC in 1994 and (4) diet with 15% lower level of metabolizable energy than that recommended by NRC in 1994 which were fed for 10 weeks (from the age of 41 to 51 weeks) to the laying hens. The results demonstrated that the amount of feed intake was significantly different among treatments (p<0.05). The highest amount of feed intake (130.50 g) was observed in treatment with 15% lower level of metabolizable energy than that recommended by NRC in 1994. The amount of feed prices were also significantly different between treatments (p<0.05). The lowest feed price for production per kilogram of egg (5705 Rials) was observed in treatment with 15% lower level of metabolizable energy than that recommended by NRC in 1994. There were no significant differences in egg traits among treatments (p>0.05).  It was concluded that using diets with 15% lower level of metabolizable energy than that recommended by NRC, can reduce the cost of egg production significantly without affecting egg traits (p<0.05).  

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