Published in Scientific Works. Series C. Veterinary Medicine, Vol. LXX, Issue 1
Written by Mădălina CIOARIC (DEGENARO), Liliana STOICA, Cosmin ȘONEA, Rosalie BĂLĂCEANU, Lorena Alice MILITARU, Nicolae DOJANĂ
The aim of this paper was to find out the effects of diets with different levels of metabolizable energy (ME) and crude protein (CP) administered during the pre-lay period on the subsequent productive performances of the Lohmann Brown hybrid. A low ME diet (2,690 kcal/kg) and a high ME diet (2,820 kcal/kg were prepared, each one with two variants of CP levels: low (15%) and high (17%). These diets were applied from 15 to 22 weeks of age. From 23 weeks of age, all birds were fed a diet containing 2,700 kcal/kg and 15.6% protein. Egg rate was significantly higher in the high-protein-high-ME fed group. In the same group, the intensity of the yolk colour decreased and the level of total protein concentration in the albumen was higher. Other researched productive parameters (feed intake, egg mass, feed conversion rate) and egg properties (eggshell colour, eggshell breaking strength, Haugh units) were found not significantly modified by the experimental pre-lay feeding.
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