TITLE:
Effects of Desmodium uncinatum Leaf Meal in the Diet on Lohmann Brown Hens’ Laying Performance and Eggs Quality
AUTHORS:
Hervé Mube Kuietche, Cyrille D’Alex Tadondjou, Rubens Ngouana Tadjong, Josiane Lobeng Mouaffo, Fostso , Jean Raphael Kana, Alexis Teguia
KEYWORDS:
Desmodium uncinatum, Laying Hens, Egg Production, Egg Quality
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Animal Sciences,
Vol.13 No.1,
January
31,
2023
ABSTRACT: A
cheap, safe and available alternative protein source to soybean is a huge
priority for the developing world. This study is aimed at evaluating the
effects of Desmodium uncinatum leaf meal incorporation levels in
the diet on Lohmann Brown hens’ laying performances. For this purpose, 60
Lohmann Brown hens aged 33 weeks with an average weight of 1.78 kg were
randomly assigned to 3 treatment groups of 20 birds each with 4 replicates. The
experimental treatments consisted of DULM 0, DULM5, and
DULM10 containing 0, 5 and 10 kg of D. uncinatum leaf meal (DULM) per 100 kg of feed
respectively. The results reveal that except for the weights of hens, laying
performances were significantly affected (p production were recorded with diet DULM5.
On the other hand, the diet with 10% of DULM (DULM10) recorded the
highest relative shell weight, feed conversion ratio and egg price.
Nevertheless, the mortality rate found in this study was 0% for all treatments
confirming the good quality of DULM as protein feedstuff for layer. It was
concluded that incorporation levels of D. uncinatum leaves at 5% in the diet improved the laying
performances of Lohmann Brown hens.