EFFECT OF COOKED MUCUNA SLOANEI SEED MEAL ON THE PERFORMANCE AND EGG QUALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF LAYING HEN

Abstract

Hamburger (Mucuna sloanei) seed a tropical legume crop that is presently used as a soup thickner, was used to substitute soya bean meal in laying hen diet. The performance of the hen, the egg quality characteristics and egg biochemistry were examine in a 12 week feeding trial. The cooked Mucuna sloanei seed meal was analyzed for its chemical compositions and incorporated into a layer diets at 0.0, 5.0, 10.0 and 15.0 % (T1, T2, T3 and T4) inclusion levels, respectively. A total of 120 laying hen of 22 weeks old were divided into four groups of 30 birds each. Each group was further divided into 3 replicates of 10 birds and fed the diets in a complete randomized design. T4 hens had a significant (P < 0.05) highest hen day egg
production. All the egg quality characteristics analysed were similar (P > 0.05) among the treatment groups except egg size which significantly (P < 0.05) reduced in T4 though still within the same category of medium in USDA egg rating. The egg biochemistry showed a significant (P < 0.05) reduction in cholesterol and increase in total protein for eggs from hen fed the treatment diet. It was concluded that cooked Mucuna sloanei seed meal is an ideal ingredient to substitute soya bean meal in layers diet and could also be used to modify the biochemical constituent of eggs.