Diarra, Siaka S. and Rusa, Shawn and Wati, Naomi and Biloko, Sarita and Gaunalomani, Siteri and Hazeem, Mohammed (2017) A comparative evaluation of moringa (Moringa oleifera) and sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) leaf hays as foraging substrates for laying hens. Livestock Research for Rural Development, 29 (173). pp. 173-178. ISSN 0121-3784
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The comparative potential of moringa and sweet potato leaf hays as foraging substrates for laying hens was investigated in a 175-day experiment.
Two hundred and twenty five 126 d-old pullets were assigned to 3 foraging groups: without foraging substrate, with moringa leaf or sweet potato vine hays. Each group consisted of 5 replicates of 15 birds. Feed intake, weight gain (WG), egg weight (EW), egg mass (EM) and feed conversion efficiency (FCE) were not affected by treatment (p>0.05). Hen-day production and egg yolk pigmentation were increased (p<0.05) on the MLH but yolk pigmentation did not differ between the forage supplemented groups (p>0.05). A higher number of floor feathers was recorded on the control group (p<0.05). It was suggested that supplying Moringa oleifera leaf hay as foraging substrate in choice feeding can significantly improve the performance of laying hens in terms of egg production and yolk pigmentation and reduce the incidence of misplaced feathers on the floor.
| Item Type: | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | foraging material, layer welfare, rate of lay, egg quality |
| Subjects: | S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General) S Agriculture > SF Animal culture |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Business and Economics (FBE) > School of Agriculture and Food Technology |
| Depositing User: | Siaka Diarra |
| Date Deposited: | 03 Sep 2017 21:43 |
| Last Modified: | 03 Sep 2017 21:44 |
| URI: | https://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/10110 |
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