EVALUATION OF Moringa olifera LEAF MEAL AS AN ALTERNATIVE PROTEIN FEED INGREDIENT IN LAYERS RATION

Abstract

The study was conducted to evaluate effects of Moringa Olifera Leaf Meal (MOLM) inclusion in” “layers ration on egg laying performance, egg quality parameters and the economic feasibility of” “using MOLM as alternative protein source in the ration of Bovans brown hens. A total of One” “hundred and eighty Bovans Brown hens aging 18 weeks were used for the experiment. The” “experiment was arranged in a completely randomized design with four treatments, each” “replicated three times with 15 hens each. The layers were fed with ration containing MOLM at” “the levels of 0 in (T1), 5 in (T2), 10 in (T3) and 15% in (T4). The experiment lasted 11 weeks. The” “amount of feed intake per hen per day was 117.3gm in T1, 116.37gm in T2, 119.74gm in T3 and” “115.32gm in T4.Feed conversion ratio was 0.26 in T1, 0.29 in T2, 0.33 in T3 and 0.29in T4.” “Average egg weight was 59.94g in T1, 63.79g in T2, 65.65g in T3 and 62.84g in T4. The hen day” “egg production was 50.9 in T1, 51.43 in T2, 63.21 in T3 and 52.58% in T4. Most of the egg” “quality parameters were higher in T3 except egg shape index, albumin height, yolk height,” “albumin height and albumin ratio that were similar (P > 0.05) among treatments. Higher yolk” “color was observed for T3 and T4 compared with T1. Yolk length was higher (p<0.05) for T2” “and yolk ratio was higher (p<0.05) for T1. The partial budget analysis indicated that the” “inclusion of 10% (T3) of MOLM reduces total feed cost compare to the control treatment and” “other treatments. Therefore, it is concluded that addition of 10% of MOLM cloud be used in the” “layers diet as recommended level as an alternative protein source to enhancing the productivity” “and to reduce the feed cost in the poultry industry.” “