Effect of formulated ration with inclusion of different calcium sources on the egg quality, productivity, and blood calcium level of chicken

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the effect of formulated ration using locally available feedstuffs with the inclusion of different calcium sources on the performance of layer chicken. Egg quality, production performance, the blood calcium level of chicken, egg fertility, hatchability, and cost of feeds to produce a kilogram of eggs were evaluated. One hundred twenty (120) 25-wk-old birds were randomly divided into 4 groups. Treatment 1 was provided with a commercial layer feed, whereas Treatment 2, 3, and 4 were fed with formulated diets using locally available feed ingredients with limestone, ground eggshell and ground snail shell, respectively. Throughout the 3-month feeding trial, laying performance, egg weight, egg mass, egg fertility, and hatchability of eggs starting at the 25th week of age were not significantly affected by the dietary treatments. Percentages of eggshell and eggshell thickness were not affected by the treatment diets while egg yolk color in treatments using formulated ration was significantly darker than the commercial feeds. At the end of the trial, blood calcium level results were not significantly different among all treatments. Results indicate that eggshells and snail shells can be fully used as a calcium source in layer diets like limestone without detrimental effects on productive traits, egg and eggshell quality, egg fertility, hatchability, and blood calcium level. Feeding formulated feeds to layer chicken using local ingredients can reduce the cost of production and increases the sustainability of animal production.