Effects of feeding pearl millet on laying hen performance and egg quality

Abstract The effects of feeding three cultivars of pearl millet (PM) on performance, egg quality and liver fat content was studied in 26-week old laying hens. Diets were based on maize or one of the millet cultivars Baioda, Dimbi and Kordofani or with graded levels of the cultivar Baioda (0, 150, 300 and 600 g kg −1 ). No significant differences were found in egg production, feed consumption, feed consumption, feed conversion ratio or egg weight during or at the end of the 12-week experimental period. Shell thickness of eggs laid by hens fed the PM cultivars was significantly higher ( p p p