Nutritional reduction of protein and usage of enzyme in the diet of light layers

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the reduction of protein, the formulation of diets and supplementation of an enzyme complex for laying hens. The layers were distributed in a completely randomized 2 × 2 × 2 factorial arrangement, with two levels of crude protein reduction (0.0 and 4.0 g/kg), two kinds of diet formulation (without and with reformulation, considering 75 kcal of metabolizable energy) and two enzyme supplementations (without and with enzyme complex supplementation), totalizing 8 treatments of 8 layers each, with 7 replications, in a total of 448 laying hens at 30 weeks of age. After data analysis, it was found that the enzyme complex supplementation in the diet of layers improves performance, promotes a similar egg quality and improves the bone and intestinal health of the layers. © 2012 Sociedade Brasileira de Zootecnia.