The effect of raw soybeans in mixtures for laying hens on production performance and the relative weight of the pancreas

The study was conducted on Isa Brown hybrid hens at the age of 49-57 weeks. The effect of using different levels of share of raw soybean of two varieties in mixtures for feeding hens on egg production, body weight, food consumption, the occurrence of defective eggs, mortality and the relative weight of the pancreas was studied. The possibility of replacing the heat-treated soybean grains, varieties Lana, with reduced trypsin inhibitor (TI) and Lydia with a standard level of TI, with raw soybean grains was examined. The research was conducted on the principle of two factorial experiment 2 x 4 (2 varieties x 4 levels of share of raw grain in the mixture) with a total of 8 diet treatments and 4 replicates per each treatment. In the first 5 weeks of the study, the differences in the number of eggs produced under the influence of tested factors were not significant. Under the influence of soybean varieties, the level of share of raw soybean and interaction of the studied factors showed significant differences (p<0.01) after 53 week of age. The use of soy with lower TI in the diet for laying hens resulted in a significantly greater capacity compared to standard variety. The share of raw soybean grains of 8 % in the mixtures significantly reduced the number of eggs laid. The differences in body weights, food consumption, occurrence of defective eggs and the relative weight of the pancreas were not significantly influenced by the studied factors or by their interaction effect. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. TR-31033]