Effects of Corn Distillers Dried Grains on the Performance and Egg Quality of Laying Hen

Abstract

A study was conducted to determine the effects of corn distillers’ dried grain (CDDG) on the performance and egg quality of laying hens. The hens were fed dietary inclusions of CDDG at 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40% for a period of eight weeks. Average feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion ratio and nitrogen economy varied significantly (P<0.05) among dietary treatments. Birds fed 30% dietary CDDG had the highest feed intake (127.00 g/bird/day). Feed conversion ratio (FCR) was inversely related to increasing levels of dietary treatments with CDDG. Among hens fed dietary CDDG, those fed 10% dietary the best feed conversion ratio (6.3) and highest weight gain (20.10 g/bird/day). Nitrogen retention was the highest (88.6%) in birds fed control diet and lowest (61.2%) in birds fed 30% dietary CDDG. Hen-day production (HDP) and Haugh Unit (HU) were significantly affected (P<0.05) by dietary treatments. Birds fed 20% dietary CDDG had the highest (61%) HDP, while birds fed 0% CDDG (control diet) had the lowest HDP (52.2%). Birds fed 20% dietary CDDG had the highest HU value (88.7) while birds fed 0% dietary CDDG (control) had the lowest (81.2) value. Birds fed 20% CDDG performed best in terms of HDP, egg quality, cost-benefit ratio. Laying hens can be fed CDDG at 10- 20% inclusion level. Inclusion levels of CDDG above this level were observed to have counter-productive effects on the production performance of bird; this observation is as a result of high fibre level of CDDG.

Keywords: Corn distillers’ grain, Laying hens, Feed intake, Weight gain, Feed conversion ratio, Nitrogen economy, Egg quality