Effects of <i>Desmodium uncinatum</i> Leaf Meal in the Diet on Lohmann Brown Hens’ Laying Performance and Eggs Quality

Abstract

A cheap, safe and available alternative protein source to soybean is a huge priority for the developing world. This study is aimed at evaluating the effects of Desmodium uncinatum leaf meal incorporation levels in the diet on Lohmann Brown hens' laying performances. For this purpose, 60 Lohmann Brown hens aged 33 weeks with an average weight of 1.78 kg were randomly assigned to 3 treatment groups of 20 birds each with 4 replicates. The experimental treatments consisted of DULM 0 , DULM 5 , and DULM 10 containing 0, 5 and 10 kg of D. uncinatum leaf meal (DULM) per 100 kg of feed respectively. The results reveal that except for the weights of hens, laying performances were significantly affected (p < 0.05) by DULM in the diet. Daily feed intake was lower with 10% incorporation of DULM in the diet as compared to a diet with 5% DULM which recorded the highest value for this parameter. Moreover, the highest value for the egg weight, egg mass, yolk index, albumen index and egg production were recorded with diet DULM 5 . On the other hand, the diet with 10% of DULM (DULM 10 ) recorded the highest relative shell weight, feed conversion ratio and egg price. Nevertheless, the mortality rate found in this study was 0% for all treatments confirming the good quality of DULM as protein feedstuff for layer. It was concluded that incorporation levels of D. uncinatum leaves at 5% in the diet improved the laying performances of Lohmann Brown hens.

Productive Performance, Egg Quality and Composition in Local Laying Hens Fed Diets Including Either Desmodium tortuosum Leaf Flour or Hevea brasiliensis Seed Meal.

“…In our study, there was no mortality during the trial. The lack of effect of the diet on laying hens weight has already been demonstrated [8,19], in contrast with our study on guinea fowls fed diets supplemented with hevea seed meal [3].…”

“…In contrast to the findings of Syahruddin et al [24] in our study there was a decrease in laying rate when the levels of supplementation with hevea seed meal was increased. However, there was an increase of laying rate when levels of supplementation with Desmodium leaf flour increased which is contrary to results presented by Kuietche et al [8] who used diets supplemented with Desmodium uncinatum and found a decrease of laying rate with the increase of the level of the plant. However, the plant used in their study Desmodium uncinatum is not similar to the plant Desmodium tortuosum used in the present study;…”