Utilization of malted sorghum sprout in the diet of rearing pullets and laying hens

• Autores: A.O. Fafiolu, O.O. Oduguwa, C.O.N. Ikeobi, C.F.I. Onwuka
• Localización: Archivos de zootecnia, ISSN-e 1885-4494, ISSN 0004-0592, Vol. 55, Nº 212, 2006, págs. 361-371
• Idioma: español
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• Resumen

  • Two studies were conducted to evaluate the effect of long term feeding of malted sorghum sprouts (MSP) on the overall performance of egg-type chickens. Diets were formulated to include 0, 150 and 300 g/kg MSP levels for both growing and laying phases. A total of one hundred and forty-four (144) ten weeks old pullets were assigned to each of the four experimental groups. Overall final weight, feed consumption, daily weight gain, feed to gain ratio and age at first lay were measured in the first experiment. Average weight of the experimental birds increased with increasing levels of MSP. Higher levels of MSP did not affect feed to gain ratios (p>0.05) at the growing phase. Age at first lay was not significantly affected as the level of MSP inclusion increased. In the second experiment, egg produced per hen-day of the birds fed 0 g/kg MSP was significantly (p<0.05) higher than those that received 150 and 300 g/kg MSP diets. Serum albumin and serum globulin were significantly reduced (p<0.05) when birds were fed MSP diets while the serum uric acid levels were elevated. MSP inclusion in the diet significantly reduced egg cholesterol content. It was concluded that MSP can be included in the diets of growing pullets up to 300 g/kg. However, inclusion of MSP in laying hen"s diet even at 150 g/kg did not yield satisfactory results. There is need to develop simple processing techniques to improve the utilization of MSP by laying hens.