Effect of soaked false yam (Icacina oliviformis) seed meal on laying performance of chicken

Abstract

A 12-week study was carried out to evaluate the egg laying performance of ISA brown layers fed diets containing four dietary levels (0, 50, 750 and 100 g/kg) of soaked false yam seed meal (SFYSM) which replaced maize in a layer mash. Soaked false yam seed meal was prepared as follows: The seeds were crushed and soaked in clean water (1 part seeds to 1.5 parts water) for 15 days with water changed every 3 days, washed with clean water, sun-dried for 5 days and ground. At 20 weeks of age, 32 ISA brown layers were divided into 4 groups with 8 replicates per group in a Completely Randomized Design. Feed and water were given ad libitum from 20-32 weeks of age. Light was provided 24 h. Data collected were on feed intake, hen day egg production, egg weight and feed efficiencies and analysed by ANOVA using GenStat (8^th edition). The dry matter content of the sample was 86.12 g/kg and the nutrient compositions (g/kg DM) were crude protein (84), ether extract (5.6), ash (6.3), neutral detergent fibre (98.5), starch (776.6) and gross energy (15.38 MJ/kg DM).  Significant (P<0.05) differences were observed in daily feed intake (72.3-85.7 g), egg weight (48.1-52.18 g) and egg mass to feed ratio (0.59-0.74). Egg mass output (30.5-44.2 g) and hen-day egg production (53-73.4%) were not significant (P>0.05). It was concluded that soaking false yam seeds had the potential to improve its feeding value for layer chickens.