EFFECT OF CASSAVA LEAF, LEUCAENA LEAF AND STYLO GRASS MEAL IN THE DIET CONTAINING THE SAME LEVEL OF ENERGY AND PROTEIN ON EGG PERFORMANCE AND QUALITY OF LUONG PHUONG LAYING HENS

Abstract

Experiments were conducted on 360 Luong Phuong laying hens in 2013, in order to determine the effect of cassava leaf, leucaena leaf, and stylo grass meal on their egg performance and quality. The experiments were carried out with four experimental groups including a control group (CG) whose feed did not contain leaf meal; experimental groups 1, 2 and 3 (EG 1, 2 and 3) whose feed contained 6% stylo grass meal (EG1), 6% cassava leaf meal (EG2) and 6% Leucaena leaf meal (EG3) respectively. The diet for the four groups had the same metabolic energy and protein percentage as 2700 kcal/kg and 15% respectively. The results showed that the diets containing 6% of stylo grass meal, cassava leaf meal or leucaena leaf meal, all increased laying rate, egg performance, concentration of carotenoids, fan scores of egg yolks, rate of embryonation, hatching rate, and percentage of class 1 chicks / hatched eggs and reduced feed cost for production of eggs and class 1 chicks, compared to the control group (feed without leaf meal). The effects of the three kinds of leaf meal were ranked in the following order: cassava leaf meal, Leucaena leaf meal and stylo grass meal.