Abstract:
Poultry egg industry is one of the major industries that contribute to fulfil the world protein requirement. Shaver Browns are commonly used as a profitable layer strain for the commercial egg production due to their high efficiency in egg production. Among number of factors affecting for the egg production feeding can be considered as a major factor. Although, many studies related to feeding on egg production little work has been done with effect of feed level on egg production. Objectives of this study were to check the effect of different feeding levels on egg production and performance of Shaver Brown layers and to check the effect of different feeding levels on egg weight, shape index, Haugh Unit and shell thickness of Shaver Brown layers. Shaver Brown layers of 48 weeks and 52 weeks of age were divided into eight replicates with each age group having four replicates and feed levels were selected as 110 g/bird and 120 g/bird. Then four replicates consisting of two age groups were allocated for one feed level. Initial body weight and egg quality parameters (egg weight, shape index, Haugh Unit and shell thickness) were measured before starting the study. Egg production was recorded daily and body weight, feed conversion efficiency (FCE) and egg quality parameters were measured weekly. When compare the results of two feed levels, there was no significance different in egg production, body weight, feed conversion efficiency and egg quality parameters (P > 0.05) except egg weight (P < 0.05). Even though egg weight was significantly different, it was over 65 g which belongs to extra-large category. In conclusion, Shaver Brown layers at age of .48 to 52 weeks can be fed using 110 g/bird as the feeding level and it pi-oved that economically efficient and the egg quality parameters were same as feed level of 120 g/bird.
Keywords: Egg production; Egg quality; Feed level; Shaver Brown layers
