Laying hens productivity and quality of eggs at changing the qualitative and quantitative composition of feed protein

I. Ratych, A. Hunchak, Ya. Sirko, O. Stefanyshyn, B. Kyryliv, I. Chomyk

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Institute of Animal Biology NAAS,
38 V. Stus str., Lviv, 79034, Ukraine

Egg production characterizes not only the economic efficiency of the poultry industry, but also the effect of various factors that contribute to the realization of the genetic potential in modern high-yielding breeds, crosses and lines, or suppress its processes. These factors include nutrition, which should take into account diet balancing according to certain nutrients, as well as their qualitative indicators. Nowadays on the feed market for farm animals there are the products characterized not only by a high protein content, but also by a high digestibility. Among others, a new innovative product — a sunflower concentrate “Proglot” developed by specialists of the “Potoky” Dnipro plant is noteworthy. According to the developers, in its manufacturing a unique nanotechnologies of sunflower seed processing were used — low-temperature extraction with maximal separation of the husk. Thus, “Proglot” can be more valuable for use in poultry feeding than high-protein soybean meal, due to the absence of “anti-nutrient” substances. The article presents the results of the study aimed to find out the productive qualities of laying hens fed a highly digestible protein with a high assimilation ratio into their diet. The experiment was conducted on the Lohmann brown breed laying hens. The control group received a compound feed containing soybean meal and sunflower meal (crude protein 17%), the 1^st experimental group -— soybean meal and “Proglot” (high-protein concentrate crude protein 17%), and the 2^nd experimental group — high-protein concentrate only (crude protein 15%). It was established that the replacement of soybean meal in the complex ration compound feed with the innovative product “Proglot” does not cause significant intergroup differences in the body weight of the hens during the experimental period. It was shown that the maximum increase in the proportion of digestible protein in the hens’ diet and the reduction of the fraction of protein that cannot be assimilated has a positive effect on the intensity of metabolic processes in the body of laying hens during the synthesis of egg components. At the same time, the poultry productivity increases: the indicators of laying hens of the 2^nd research group exceeded the indicators of the analogues of the control and the 1^st research groups by 2 and 4% (P<0.05), respectively, and the quality of the obtained products increases too — the absolute mass of egg protein (P<0.05) and shell strength (P<0.01).

Key words: laying hens, egg production, egg quality, “Proglot” sunflower concentrate

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