Laying chickens response to various levels of palm kernel cake in diets

Abstract

The response of 120 Lohmann Brown laying hens which were fed on graded levels of palm kernel cake (PKC) meal was studied. Four dietary treatments incorporating 0, 5, 10 and 15% of PKC meals were used and the birds were randomly assigned in equal members in a completely randomized design. The diets were isocaloric and iso-nitrogenenous and were fed ad libitum. Water was also provided free choice. The study revealed that inclusion of PKC at 15% reduced (P>0.05) daily body weight gain (DBG) by about 400% when compared with control while, lower inclusion levels of PKC (5 and 10%) reduced (P<0.05) DBG by about 8.6 and 13.6% respectively. Feeding PKC at 15% adversely affected egg production though feed intake was not significantly affected. Additionally, PKC had no significant effect on hematological parameters assessed except mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC). The results indicated that inclusion of PKC can reduce the cost of feed. It was also revealed that PKC, if included up to 15% of the diet of laying hens could reduce egg production. Key