Effect of maize replacement with different triticale levels on layers production performance, egg quality, yolk fatty acid profile and blood parameters

Maize is recognised as one of the most efficient energy sources for livestock, particularly within the poultry industry. However, its constantly increasing price due to its demand for feeding both humans and livestock (Bakhtiyary Moez et al., 2020) has led a number of researchers to investigate the use of alternative ingredients with lower production costs and assuring good bird performance. Triticale, a human-made crop resulting from the crossing between wheat and rye, distinguished itself with a low price and a resistance to dry weather compared to maize or wheat. This grain contains also a good protein level that might allow it to fairly replace maize in poultry nutrition. Cornejo et al. (1973) concluded that the triticale sample containing 15.3% crude protein was equivalent to wheat and maize and superior to barley. If locally produced, triticale may be less expensive and more environmentally friendly cereal to use in animal diets compared to imported cereals. Also, previous experiments indicate that triticale is a good substitute for maize in the diets of broilers (Rao et al., 1976; Reddy et al., 1979) and laying hens (Shafey et al., 1992; Franco et al., 2020). ABSTRACT. The study aims to investigate the effect of replacing dietary maize with 0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 g/kg of triticale on production performance, egg quality, yolk fatty acids, and blood variables when fed to laying hens. Five experimental diets were mixed to be isoenergetic and isonitrogenous and were fed to the layers for six weeks, from 22 to 28 week of age. Three hundred and sixty 22-week-old Hy-Line Brown laying hens were individually weighed and randomly allocated to 60 enriched cages giving six birds per cage, in an environmentally controlled experimental house. The cages were equipped with a laying nest, scratching area, metal feeders in front and two nipple drinkers inside. Each diet was fed to 12 cages following randomisation. Feed and water were available ad libitum throughout the experiment. Production variables remained unaffected by the diets containing triticale at various levels. Among the egg quality traits, egg yolk colour linearly decreased (P < 0.001) by dietary triticale inclusion. Dietary triticale did not have an impact on egg yolk fatty acid composition (P > 0.05). Apart from the glucose level, increasing in a linear fashion (P < 0.001) with triticale in diets, the rest of the studied blood variables did not respond (P > 0.05) to changes in dietary triticale. It has been concluded that 20% replacement of maize with triticale in laying hen diets did not have any detrimental impact on egg production variables and or the efficiency of production. Received: 3 September 2021 Revised: 30 November 2021 Accepted: 14 December 2021