The effect of supplementing Saccharomyces cerevisiae in the diets on egg laying and egg quality characteristics of pullets

Abstract

A trial was carried out to evaluate the effect of supplementing Saccharomyces cerevisiae - containing dried yeast (SDY) in the feed on performance, external and internal egg quality characteristics of pullets and the cost effectiveness of the various levels of substitution. The SDY was included in the pullet feeds at 5 levels of 0. 00, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.00%. Brown hypeco pullets were used. The chemical analysis indicated that the SDY used was high in dry matter (DM) (96.39%), crude protein(CP) (59.09%), and crude fibre (CF) (11.65%). The trial was conducted for 18 weeks starting from point of lay. No significant (P>0.05) differences were observed in the performance parameters except feed conversion efficiency (FCE) where 0.75% SDY inclusion had the best FCE of 2.16. Egg weight, shell weight, yolk weight and height were higher (P<0.05) and Haugh unit better in 0.75% SDY fed pullets. The gross benefit derived from the supplementation was superior in 0.75% SDY fed birds compared to the control birds. The observed results were attributed to better feed conversion efficiency (FCE) of 0.75% SDY group, possibly due to its better supply of phytase phosphorus and bio- availability of certain micro-nutrients. © Asian Network for Scientific Information, 2006.