PERFORMANCE RESPONSE AND EGG QUALITIES OF LAYING BIRDS FED ENZYME SUPPLEMENTED PALM KERNEL CAKE (PKC) BASED DIETS

The performance response and egg qualities of laying birds fed enzyme supplemented PKC diets as replacement for maize was investigated with 210, 20 week old laying pullets of Dominant Black strain at the Teaching and Research Farm of the Delta State University, Asaba Campus, Nigeria. The birds which just come into lay were randomly allotted into seven dietary groups of 30 each in three replicates. The experiment was conducted for 11 weeks. Dietary treatments significantly (p<0.05) affected feed intake, Hen day percent, Egg weight, Feed efficiency (Kg feed: Kg eggs) and cost of feed per egg. Final live weight and body weight gains at end of the experiment were similar (p<0.05) among treatments. On egg qualities, only Haugh unit was significantly (p<0.05) improved with increased level of PKC which appeared to be better as rate of enzyme supplementation increases. The differences observed in the experiment on performance parameters appeared not to have established a consistence trend to strongly assert a conclusion but are indicative of the possibility of replacing maize with PKC in a laying birds diet up to 40 % when supplemented with Hemicell ® enzyme. Other enzyme application methods may be investigated to see if better performance response trend can be achieved.