Evaluating the nutritional value of date pits and demonstrating their application in laying hen diets

Abstract

This experiment was carried out to study the feeding value of ground date pits (DP) (Phoenix dactylifera L.) with and without enzyme supplementation on laying hens' performance. Apparent metabolizable energy value of DP was determined by the total collection method using 10 adult Leghorn cockerels. After that, a total number of 144 Lohmann 50-week-old LSL-Lite hens were randomly allocated into six groups consisting of four replicates of six birds, based on a 3 × 2 factorial arrangement of the treatments. Six iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous experimental diets including I-corn-soya bean meal-based control, II-corn-soya bean meal oil-based control and III- corn-soya bean meal-based diet (180 g/kg DP) were formulated. Each of the diets was supplemented with two levels of an enzyme (0.0 and 0.07 g/kg Natozim Plus). The experiment lasted 10 weeks after 7 days of adaptation. The results revealed that there was no significant difference in feed intake, feed conversion ratio, egg production, egg mass, eggshell weight, eggshell thickness and Haugh unit among the treatments. Dietary inclusion of DP significantly decreased body weight gain (BWG), egg weight and yolk colour score. On the other hand, corn-soya bean meal-based control diet with vegetable oil significantly increased egg weight and BWG of birds in comparison with other treatments. The serum biochemical metabolites were not affected by DP and enzyme supplementation. Thus, DP can be used as alternative feedstuff in laying hen diets, up to 18% of the diet with little effect on the performance of hens, including egg weight, and also, it had an adverse effect on yolk colour. Eventually, in terms of performance, the results failed to demonstrate any positive effect of Natozim Plus on either the controls or 18% DP diets.

Protective Effect of Date Pits on Growth Performance, Carcass Traits, Blood Indices, Intestinal Morphology, Nutrient Digestibility, and Hepatic Aflatoxin Residues of Aflatoxin B1-Exposed Broilers

“…Date pits (DP), which comprise roughly 10% of the date's weight, are a by-product of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) processing industries [24]. In recent years, some research reports have shown that DP meal can be partly utilized as an alternative feed ingredient in poultry ration [25,26]. The nutritive values for DP have been reviewed recently by Attia et al [27].…”

Effect of Inclusion of Degraded and Non-Degraded Date Pits in Broilers’ Diet on their Intestinal Microbiota and Growth Performance

“…DP up to 18% is an alternative feedstuff in diets for laying hens with little influence on productive traits, including eggs' weight [10]. So, DP meals could be added to 25-33-week-old local hen diets with amounts up to 5% without β-mannanase and without affecting growth performance or egg quality [11].…”

Intestinal Development and Histomorphometry of Broiler Chickens Fed Trichoderma reesei Degraded Date Seed Diets

“…The body weight gain (BWG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) of chicks fed a diet containing 10-15% DP were significantly increased after the first 2 weeks of the experiment (8,10). Several reports showed the beneficiary effect of date fiber on growth performance and the carcass characteristics of broilers and layers (11)(12)(13)(14).…”