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The study was conducted to evaluate an appropriate inclusion level of locally produced unprocessed or expander-processed coloured flowered faba bean (FB) (cv. 'Kontu') seeds in diets for laying hens. Egg production and egg quality variables were determined with 560 hens (Lohmann Selected Leghorn, LSL Classic) in a 40-week continued experiment. The hens were fed one of the five diets containing soybean meal as the main protein source. A diet without FB was served as a control diet. Both unprocessed and expander-processed FB was tested either in proportions of 50 g kg -1 or 100 g kg -1 in the diet. Faba bean inclusion (control vs. FB diets) had no effect on the egg production rate, egg mass production, feed consumption, or feed conversion ratio, but it decreased egg weight (p<0.05). Dietary FB inclusion tended to increase the mortality of the hens (p<0.10). Faba bean processing had no effects on egg production parameters or hen mortality. Daily egg mass production decreased and feed conversion ratio increased when FB proportion increased (from 50 to 100 g kg -1 , p<0.05). Faba bean inclusion had no effects on egg exterior quality. It can be concluded that 50 g kg -1 of the FB studied (cv. 'Kontu') can be used in the diets of laying hens (LSL Classic) without negative effects on production performance or livability.

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Forage type and management influences the nutritional quality and fatty acid composition of ruminant milk. Replacing grass silage with red clover (RC; L.) silage increases milk fat 18:3-3 concentration. Red clover has a higher polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity compared with grasses, which has been suggested to decrease lipolysis and . The present study characterized the abundance and fatty acid composition of esterified lipid and NEFA before and after ensiling of grass and RC to investigate the influence of forage species, growth stage, and extent of fermentation on lipolysis. A randomized block design with a 2 × 3 × 4 factorial arrangement of treatments was used. Treatments comprised RC or a mixture of timothy ( L.) and meadow fescue ( Huds.) harvested at 3 growth stages and treated with 4 levels of formic acid (0, 2, 4, and 6 L/t). Lipid in silages treated with 0 or 6 L/t formic acid were extracted and separated into 4 fractions by TLC. Total PPO activity in fresh herbage and the content of soluble bound phenols in all silages were determined. Concentrations of 18:3-3 and total fatty acids (TFA) were higher ( < 0.001) for RC than for grass. For both forage species, 18:3-3 and TFA content decreased linearly ( < 0.001) with advancing growth stage, with the highest abundance at the vegetative stage. Most of lipid in fresh RC and grass herbage (97%) was esterified, whereas NEFA accounted for 71% of TFA in both silages. Ensiling resulted in marginal increases in TFA content and the amounts of individual fatty acids compared with fresh herbages. Herbage total PPO activity was higher ( < 0.001) for RC than grass (11 vs. 0.11 μkatal/g leaf fresh weight). Net lipolysis during ensiling was extensive for both forage species (660 to 759 g/kg fatty acid for grass and 563 to 737 g/kg fatty acid for RC). Formic acid application (0 vs. 6 L/t) resulted in a marked decrease ( = 0.026) in net lipolysis during the ensiling of RC, whereas the opposite was true ( = 0.026) for grass. In conclusion, results suggest that formic acid addition during the ensilage of RC decreases lipolysis . For both plant species, total PPO activity was not associated with the extent of lipolysis . However, bound phenols formed via PPO activity appear to have a role in protecting lipid and protein against degradation in grass and lowering proteolysis of RC during ensiling.