Cassava meaf meal inclusion in palm kernel meal diet could improve egg yolk color in post-molted native laying hens

Abstract

Our previous study demonstrated that native laying hens receiving 15% or 30% palm kernel meal (PKM) diet had comparable feed conversion ratio (FCR), egg production, and egg quality with those being fed with corn-soybean diet except yolk color score which was significantly lower (paler). The present study was aimed at improving yolk color score of 66-wk old post-molted native laying hens fed PKM diets with cassava leaf meal (CLM). Dietary treatments were a factorial combination of three levels of PKM (0, 15, and 30%) and two levels of CLM (0 and 2.5%), and assigned at random to 90 cages with one hen per cage, so each treatment consisted of 14 to 16 replicates. Experimental diets were isocaloric (2,735 to 2,758 kcal/kg) and contained CP of 17.0 to 18.4%. Diets and water were provided ad libitum for five weeks. Although feed intake was influenced by dietary treatments, hens receiving PKM diets, regardless CLM inclusion, did not show differences in FCR, egg production, and all egg traits except yolk color. Hens receiving the 30% PKM diet laid eggs with lower yolk color score than those received the 15% or 0% PKM diet (6.92 vs. 8.00 vs. 8.00, respectively; P ≤ 0.0001). Supplementing the PKM diet with CLM clearly improved egg yolk color score from 7.1 (0% CLM) to 8.2 (2.5% CLM) (P ≤ 0.0001)), and this was further shown by interaction effect of PKM and CLM (P ≤ 0.05). In conclusion, CLM could be included in the diet containing PKM to improve yolk color for consumers’ preference.