<b>Pequi peel meal in laying hen diet

This study evaluated the effect of pequi peel meal in the diet for laying hens on performance and egg quality. Hy-Line® Brown hens (n=160) aged 55 weeks with 1642±63g body weight were distributed in a completely randomized design with five treatments and four replications of eight birds each. The treatments consisted of isometric substitution of corn by pequi peel meal at 0, 2.5, 5.0, 7.5 and 10%. The performance and internal and external egg quality were evaluated. Egg production, egg mass and feed conversion worsened linearly with increasing replacement of corn with pequi peel meal, while the yolk color increased linearly. The other variables related to performance and internal and external egg quality were not significantly affected by the treatments. It can be concluded that the use of pequi peel meal replacing corn in laying hen diet does not change the internal and external egg quality, improves the pigmentation of egg yolk, and impairs performance of laying hens.

Metabolizable energy and nutrient digestibility of detoxified castor meal and castor cake for poultry

This experiment aimed to determine the metabolizable energy and the digestibility of detoxified castor meal and castor cake nutrients for broilers. A total of 180 Cobb-500TM broilers from 21 to 32 days of age was randomly distributed in three treatments with six replicates of 10 broilers - 5 males and 5 females. The experimental treatments were a reference-diet and two test-diets composed of 80% of reference-diet and 20% of detoxified castor cake or castor meal. The adaptation period ranged from 21 to 27 days of age and the total excreta collection period ranged from 28 to 32 days of age. The detoxified castor meal presented apparent metabolizable energy of 2,032 kcal/kg of natural matter, apparent metabolizable energy corrected for nitrogen balance of 1,829 kcal/kg of natural matter and the digestibility coefficients of 57.8% dry matter, 68.4% crude protein, 10.5% crude fiber, 35.9% nitrogen free extract, 80.0% ether extract and 26.6% ash. In the detoxified castor cake, the apparent metabolizable energy content was 2,550 kcal/kg of natural matter, the nitrogen corrected apparent metabolizable energy balance was of 2,320 kcal/kg of natural matter and the digestibility coefficients of 60.6% for dry matter, 77.2% for crude protein, 14.0% for crude fiber, 45.7% for nitrogen free extract, 85.4% for ether extract and 28.2% for ash. The metabolizable energy and digestibility of nutrients in detoxified castor cake are higher than in the detoxified castor meal

Torta de mamona destoxificada para alimentação de poedeiras comerciais

Objetivou-se com este experimento avaliar o efeito da inclusão de torta de mamona destoxificada (TMD) na ração de poedeiras comerciais sobre o desempenho e a qualidade interna e externa dos ovos. Foram utilizadas 200 poedeiras comerciais de 40 a 50 semanas de idade, da linhagem Hy-Line W-36®, com 1543±34g de peso corporal, que foram distribuídas em um delineamento inteiramente casualizado com cinco tratamentos (0, 5, 10, 15 e 20% de torta de mamona destoxificada na ração) com cinco repetições de oito aves cada. Foram avaliados o consumo de ração, a produção, o peso e a massa de ovos e a conversão alimentar. A qualidade interna foi avaliada por meio da unidade de Haugh, percentual de albúmen e de gema. A qualidade da casca foi medida pela espessura, densidade específica e percentual de casca. As variáveis de desempenho foram afetadas pela inclusão da TMD com resposta linear negativa para o consumo de ração e quadrática para produção de ovos, peso do ovo, massa do ovo e conversão alimentar, com os melhores níveis de 10,5, 5,7, 9,2 e 10,3% respectivamente. Não houve efeito significativo da inclusão da TMD para as variáveis de qualidade interna e externa dos ovos. Concluiu-se que a TMD pode ser incluída na ração de poedeiras em até 5,7% para otimizar o desempenho e não alterar a qualidade interna e externa dos ovos