Cocoa Pod Husk Plus Enzymes is a Potential Feed Ingredient for Hy-Line Silver Brown Laying Hens
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Date
2017-12
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Science and Development (A Journal of the College of Basic and Applied Sciences (CBAS), University of Ghana)
Abstract
The aim of the experiment was to determine whether the inclusion of pelleted cocoa pod husks (CPH) in diets
for Hyline Silver Brown (HSB) layers would affect egg laying performance and egg characteristics. Two hundred
and sixteen (216), 36-week old, HSB layers in battery cages were randomly assigned to twelve experimental
diets for 12 weeks in a completely randomized design (CRD). Diets had three levels of CPH inclusion: 0, 10 and
15%. For each inclusion level, the diets were further sub-divided into four treatments. The four treatments
either had, i) no enzyme, ii) phytase only, iii) a commercial enzymes cocktail only, or iv) a mixture of both phytase
and cocktail. The enzyme cocktail and phytase were added at rates of 250g and 300g per ton of complete feed
respectively according to the manufacturer’s recommendation. Overall, adding CPH did not affect Average
Daily Feed Intake, although a combination of an enzyme cocktail and phytase improved ADFI, especially at the
15% CPH-inclusion level. Hen-day egg production of birds on diets with 0, 10 and 15% CPH, with an enzyme
cocktail alone (78.70, 76.23 and 71.96% respectively), or with a combination of enzyme cocktail and phytase
(79.5, 71.89 and 72.16% respectively) was better than egg production of hens on the other diets. There were
no effects of CPH or enzyme addition on egg quality characteristics. Cocoa pod husk can be used in diets for
HSB birds (up to 15%) without adversely affecting production performance or egg quality characteristics when
appropriate exogenous enzymes are added.
Description
Journal Article
Keywords
Egg production, Egg quality, Enzymes, Hy-Line Silver Brown Layers
Citation
Nortey et al • Cocoa Pod Husk Plus Enzymes is a Potential Feed Ingredient