A comparative utilisation of high dietary copra and palm kernel cakes based diets with exogenous enzyme by young pullets and layers Diarra S.S.*, Kolubalona J.K., Lal P.P., Stewart E., Teine M.A., Havea T., Siose I., Samo J., Tabi F. School of Agriculture and Food Technology, the University of the South Pacific, Alafua Campus, Samoa *Corresponding author: E-mail: siakadi2012@gmail.com
Online published on 31 August, 2018. Abstract The effects of enzyme supplementation of copra cake (CPC) and palm kernel cake (PKC) in growing pullets and laying hens were investigated in two experiments. In experiment 1, a control diet based on fish meal and soybean meal and 4 diets containing 200 g CPC or PKC/kg with and without exogenous enzymes (a complex enzyme with 8 enzyme activities (U/g): β-glucanase, 800; xylanase, 15, 000; β-mannanase, 100; α-galactosidase, 100; amylase, 500; pectinase, 500; protease, 800 and cellulase, 300) were fed each to 3 replicate pens containing 10 growing pullets for a period of 70 days. In experiment 2, diets formulated as in experiment 1 were fed each to 10 point of lay birds for a period of 84 days. Pullets fed CPC and PKC based diets consumed more (P<0.05) feed and water than the control. Feeding CPC and PKC without enzyme resulted in a poorer (P<0.05) feed conversion efficiency. The laying hens showed no treatment difference in feed and water intake, feed conversion efficiency, Haugh unit and shell thickness but hen day production, egg weight and egg mass improved with enzyme supplementation. Therefore, feeding of 200 g copra cake or palm kernel cake per kg diet depressed efficiency of feed utilisation in growing pullets but this adverse effect was overcome by challenzyme supplementation. In laying hens, challenzyme supplementation improved hen day production but had no effect on the efficiency of feed utilisation. Top Keywords Alternative protein sources, Enzyme, Laying hens, Performance, Pullets. Top |