Crude protein levels, productive performance and egg characteristics of second cycle layer hens

Authors

  • Eliseo Sosa-Montes Universidad Autónoma Chapingo
  • Fernando Sánchez-Morales Facultad de Agronomía y Veterinaria. Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí
  • Arturo Pro-Martínez Programa de Ganadería. Colegio de Postgraduados Campus Montecillo
  • Elvia Martínez-Cruz
  • Luis Donaldo Salinas-Jiménez Departamento de Zootecnia, Universidad Autónoma Chapingo.
  • Fernando González-Cerón Departamento de Zootecnia, Universidad Autónoma Chapingo

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.19136/era.a8nII.2940

Abstract

It was evaluated the effect of two commercial feeds (16 and 18%) with different crude protein (CP) content on the productive performance and egg characteristics of second-cycle hens. Each feed was randomly assigned to 210 hens that were housed two per cage. A 16 h light : 8 h dark regime was used. Daily ration of feed was 115 g bird-1. Egg production (PorP, %), egg weight (PesH, g), egg mass (MasH g bird-1 d-1), feed conversion (ConA g g-1), percentages of different egg categories and benefit cost ratio (B/C) were recorded during 52 days (d). Each d represented a replicate. During the last eight days, 64 eggs were randomly selected from each treatment (8 eggs d-1) to record in each egg: length (L, cm), width (A, cm), egg shape index (IFH), weight of yolk, white and shell (PesY, PesCla y PesCas, g, respectively) and their percentages (PorY, PorCla and PorCas, %, respectively). The 18% CP treatment produced better values (P < 0.05) of PorP, PesH, MasH, ConA, L and A than the 16% CP treatment. No effects (P > 0.05) were detected on the variables: IFH, PorY and B/C. Eggs from birds with 18% CP showed higher (P < 0.05) PorCla and lower PorCas than eggs from birds with 16% CP. In conclusion, the commercial feed with 18% CP improved productive performance and several egg characteristics, without affecting the benefit cost ratio.

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Published

2021-10-08

How to Cite

Sosa-Montes, E., Sánchez-Morales, F., Pro-Martínez, A., Martínez-Cruz, E., Salinas-Jiménez, L. D. ., & González-Cerón, F. . (2021). Crude protein levels, productive performance and egg characteristics of second cycle layer hens. Ecosistemas Y Recursos Agropecuarios, 8(II). https://doi.org/10.19136/era.a8nII.2940

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