The effect increasing levels of clover meal on performance, egg traits and blood parameters of laying hens

Document Type : Research Paper

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of increasing levels of clover meal (CM) on egg production, egg traits and blood metabolites of laying hens. In this experiment 144 Hy-line (W36) laying hens were used from 65-75 weeks of age in 4 treatments, 3 replicates and 12 hens in each replicate in a completely randomized design. Experimental groups included: 1) control group, 2) group with 1% of CM, 3) group with 2% of CM, 4) group with 3% of CM. The results showed that using CM has significant effects on performance, egg traits and blood metabolites of laying hens (p<0.05). The highest amounts of egg weight and egg mass, the highest egg production percentage, the best feed conversion, the lowest cost of feed intake for production per kilogram of egg, the best egg yolk color index, the highest Albumin percentage, the lowest blood Albumin and uric acid levels were resulted by using 3% of CM. The lowest blood triglyceride and total protein were observed in group contain 1% of CM. The overall results showed that in laying hens using 3% of clover meal improve their performance, egg traits, changed the blood metabolites and decrease production cost.

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References

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Animal Sciences Journal
Volume 29, Issue 111
August 2016
Pages 97-106

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