Economics of production and egg quality characteristics of Layer Chickens Fed Diets Containing Prosopis Africana Seed Coat Meal Treated with Polyzyme®

Abstract

The study evaluated the effect of prosopis africana seed coat meal (PASCM) on the economics of production and egg quality characteristics of three hundred (300) Nera brown layer chickens thatwere fed for 39 weeks. The birds were randomly allotted to 5 experimental diets with 3 replications of 20 birds each. The diets were formulated with the inclusion of PASCM at 0, 15, 20, 25 and 30% levels for treatments T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5, respectively and the data collected were subjected to analysis of Variance in a completely randomized design. Results obtained showed that in the economics of egg production, egg/hen/day, egg sales/day (₦) and profit/day (₦) decreased with increased PASCM inclusion in the diets. While most of the egg quality parameters were affected (P < 0.05) by the dietary treatments, except egg weight, egg length, shell thickness and egg shape index. The economics of production and egg quality characteristics showed that 20% PASCM inclusion level resulted in optimum production and hence this level is recommended for adoption. Keywords— PASCM, Pullet Layer Chickens, economics of Production and egg quality characteristics.