EFFECT OF SUPPLEMENTATION OF DIET WITH MUCUNA (Mucuna cochinchinensis), CASSAVA (Manihot esculenta) AND NEEM (Azadirachta indica) LEAF MEALS ON SHELF LIFE OF CHICKEN EGGS

Abstract

A 72 – day feeding trial was conducted using 240, 35week-old Lohmann® brown layer chickens, to study the effect of supplementing diet with three types of leaf meal on the shelf life of chicken eggs. The birds were grouped into 16 replicates of similar live body weight, and 4 replicates were randomly allocated to each of four treatments using the Completely Randomized Design. Treatment 1 served as control, with no leaf meal added to the diet. Treatments 2, 3 and 4 were, respectively, supplemented with 5% of leaf meal mucuna (Mucuna cochinchinensis), Cassava (Manihot esculenta) or Neem (Azadirachta indica). Eggs from all treatments were gathered on the same day and kept in plastic egg crates place on a wooden table in the same room at room temperature. The eggs were sampled on the same day and weekly for six weeks and analysed for yolk colour, yolk index and Haugh unit score. There was Significantly difference (P<0.05) for yolk colour, yolk index and haugh unit for eggs from birds fed leaf meals, with cassava leaf meal giving the best results for up to six weeks of the experimental period.