Comparison of feeding dietary plant and animal protein on laying hens performance.

An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of feeding dietary plant proteins with lysine and methionine on the performance of laying hens, and to assess the economic advantage of feeding such diets. Forty Single Comb White Leghorn laying hens at age of sixty weeks were selected on the basis of uniform body weights and productivity and distributed randomly into 2 treatment groups with 4 replicates (5 birds/replicate) in a completely randomized design. Diets were formulated to be approximately isocaloric and isonitrogenous to meet the National Research Council (1994) nutrient requirements for layers. The experiment started at age of forty weeks of production and lasted for 10 weeks after one week adaptation period. Parameters measured were: feed intake, feed conversion ratio, hen day egg production, egg weight, egg mass and mortality %. The results revealed no significant difference (P>0.05) among the groups fed dietary plant or animal protein (layer concentrate) regarding feed intake, feed conversion ratio, egg production and masses. Feed cost per kilogram decreased by 12.5% and cost of kilogram eggs by 20.8% when hens were fed dietary plant.