Productive Performance, Egg Quality and Composition in Local Laying Hens Fed Diets Including Either Desmodium tortuosum Leaf Flour or Hevea brasiliensis Seed Meal.
The objective of this study was to investigate the effects, on laying performance, egg quality traits, colour and composition, of supplementing a white corn-based diet with either Desmodium tortuosum leaf flour or Hevea brasiliensis seed meal. Four hundred 32-week-old hens were distributed to 40 pens of 10 hens each and allocated to 10 dietary treatments (4 replicates per treatment) for 6 weeks. Two control groups of 40 hens received one of either diet Y, based on yellow corn, or diet W, based on white corn. The other groups received a diet based on white corn 1) supplemented with Desmodium tortuosum leaf flour at 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% or 10% (diet D) or 2) supplemented with Hevea brasiliensis seed meal at 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% or 10% (diet H). Diet D led to increased egg production with a reduced cholesterol content but a degraded (pale) yolk colour. Diet D improved laying performance and yolk colour at a reduced feed cost per egg, but had no effect on cholesterol content. In conclusion, the inclusion of Desmodium tortuosum leaf flour, in a white corn-based diet, is effective in lowering feed cost, increasing egg production and improving yolk colour.