Animal Feed Science and Technology,20 (1988) 279-286

ElsevierScience Publishers B.V., AmsterdAm -- Printed in The Netherlands

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P a l m K e r n e l Meal as a Feed for P o u l t r y . 4. U s e o f P a l m K e r n e l Meal b y L a y i n g B i r d s

O.C. ONWUDIKE

Department of Animal Science, University of Ire, Ile-I[e (Nigeria)

(Received 1 June 1987; accepted for publication 23 December 1987)

ABSTRACT Onwudike, O.C., 1988. Palm kernel meal as a feed for poultry.4. Use of palm kernel meal by laying birds.Anim. Feed Sci.Technol.,20: 279-286. In each of 2 experiments, 200 layingbirdsof the Harco strainwere used to determine the effects of increasingamounts of dietaryp M m kernel meal ( P K M ) on egg production rateand egg quality. The resultsshow that up to 40% of P K M can be included in dietsfor layerswithout any adverse effectson performance or egg quality.As the proportion of P K M increasedbeyond 40%, there was a significantdrop in egg production (P < 0.05),egg weight (P < 0.01),feed intake (P < 0.01) and feed conversion efficiency(P < 0.01).The costof feed requiredto produce I kg of eggs was reduced by feeding with P K M . Diets containing 50-70% of P K M caused the production of very watery faeces.It is recommended that the m a x i m u m levelof inclusionof P K M in the dietof layingbirds should be 40%.

INTRODUCTION

The earliestreports on palm kernel meal ( P K M ) as a feed for laying birds (Temperton and Dudley, 1940) indicated that P K M was palatable and that birds which consumed itshowed satisfactoryegg production over a period of 9 months. Their report did not, however, discussthe dietaryproportion of P K M and since that time, there have been no reports in the literatureabout the use of P K M by laying birds. This general lack of information on the use of P K M by poultry has been discussed by the author, who has shown that P K M can be used by growing chickens ifthe dietsare properly balanced (Onwudike, 1986a, b,c). This study on the use of P K M by laying birds is part of the seriesof experiments aimed at investigatingthe use of P K M by poultry.
0377-8401/88/$03.50 1988 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.

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MATERIALS AND METHODS T w o s e p a r a t e studies w e r e c a r r i e d o u t to d e t e r m i n e t h e o p t i m u m level of inclusion of P K M in t h e diet o f laying birds.

Experiment I
T w o h u n d r e d 2 8 - w e e k - o l d p u l l e t s of t h e H a r c o s t r a i n ( c r o s s b r e d s e x - l i n k e d B r o w n L e g h o r n a n d R h o d e I s l a n d R e d ) w e r e u s e d to d e t e r m i n e t h e e x t e n t to w h i c h g r o u n d n u t c a k e p r o t e i n c o u l d b e r e p l a c e d b y P K M w i t h o u t a n y reduct i o n in p e r f o r m a n c e or egg quality. T h e b i r d s h a d p r e v i o u s l y b e e n r e a r e d to t h e laying stage o n diets w h i c h did n o t c o n t a i n a n y P K M . T h e b i r d s were r a n d o m l y divided into 5 t r e a t m e n t g r o u p s of 40 b i r d s e a c h a n d e a c h g r o u p w a s f u r t h e r TABLE 1 Composition of diets for Experiment I Proportion of GNC protein replaced by PKM protein (%) 0 Ingredients Yellow maize Groundnut cake Fish meal Palm kernel meal Brewers' dried grains Bone meal Oyster shell Vitamin-mineral mix' Salt Amprolium (coccidiostat) Palm oil Analysis Crude protein (%) Crude fibre (%) Methionine + cystine (%) Lysine (%) ME (MJ kg -1) (calculated) Calcium (%) Available phosphorus (%) 60.50 18.00 4.00 0.00 7.45 2.00 7.00 0.50 0.50 0.05 0.00 17.42 4.98 0.51 0.75 11.75 3.46 0.47 25 55.63 13.50 4.00 9.37 7.45 2.00 7.00 0.50 0.50 0.05 0.00 17.07 5.17 0.51 0.74 11.63 3.48 0.49 50 51.15 9.00 5.00 18.75 6.00 1.75 7.00 0.50 0.50 0.05 0.30 16.95 5.39 0.53 0.77 11.63 3.48 0.49 75 46.38 4.50 5.90 28.12 5.00 1.50 7.00 0.50 0.50 0.05 0.55 16.93 5.86 0.55 0.81 11.62 3.47 0.51 100 41.15 0.00 7.00 37.50 4.00 1.25 7.00 0.50 0.50 0.05 0.75 16.86 6.14 0.58 0.86 11.59 3.46 0.52

1To provide the following per kg of the diet: vitamin A, 8000 i.u; vitamin Da, 2000 i.u; vitamin E, 5 i.u; vitamin K, 2 rag; riboflavin, 4.20 rag; vitamin B12, 0.01 rag; pantothenic acid, 5 mg; nicotinic acid, 20 mg; folic acid, 0.5 nag; choline, 300 mg; manganese, 56 rag; iodine, 1 rag; iron, 20 rag; copper, 10 mg; zinc, 50 mg and cobalt, 1.25 rag.

281 sub-divided into 4 replicates of 10 birds each. The birds were paired in cages. A total of 5 diets (Table 1 ) were used in the trial. Diet 1 had no P K M while in Diets 2, 3, 4 and 5, the quantity of protein supplied by groundnut cake (GNC) in Diet 1 was replaced by 25, 50, 75 and 100%, respectively, of protein from P K M . The composition of the P K M used in the study was as reported previously (Onwudike, 1986a). The P K M samples were produced following oil extraction by the mechanical screw press expeller method after heating to ~ 85 C. Feed and water were provided ad libitum for the 10 m o n t h s duration of the trial. The birds were weighed at the start and the end of the experiment. Eggs were collected daily and the rate of egg production was calculated in terms of h e n - d a y egg production. Eggs collected during the last 4 days of each 28-day m o n t h l y period were weighed. Six eggs from the collection were taken from each replicate and three of them were used to measure the proportions of albumen, yolk and shell, while the other three were used to determine the Haugh unit value. The cost of feed TABLE 2 Compositionof diets for Experiment 2 Levelof PKM (%) 0 Ingredients Yellowmaize Groundnut cake Fish meal Palm kernel meal Brewers' dried grains Bone meal Oyster shell Vitamin-mineral mixI Salt Amprolium Palm oil Analysis Crude protein (%) Crude fibre (%) Methionine+cystine (%) Lysine (%) ME (MJkg -~ ) (calculated)2 Calcium (%) Availablephosphorus ( %) (calculated)
2ME value = N - corrected value.

40 39.00 0.00 7.00 40.00 3.50 1.25 7.00 0.50 0.50 0.05 1.20 16.94 6.26 0.59 0.87 11.63 3.46 0.53

50 29.00 0.00 7.00 50.00 2.50 1.25 7.00 0.50 0.50 0.05 2.20 17.52 6.75 0.61 0.90 11.58 3.49 0.56

60 19.00 0.00 7.00 60.00 1.50 1.00 7.15 0.50 0.50 0.05 3.30 18.36 7.22 0.63 0.94 11.57 3.50 0.55

70 9.00 0.00 6.00 70.00 1.00 1.00 7.15 0.50 0.50 0.05 4.80 18.39 8.07 0.63 0.92 11.63 3.48 0.54

60.50 18.00 4.00 0.00 7.45 2.00 7.00 0.50 0.50 0.05 0.00 17.42 4.98 0.50 0.75 11.75 3.46 0.47

IA vitamin-mineral mix as described in Table 1.

282 per kilogram of eggs was also calculated. Data collected were subjected to analysis of variance (Steel and Torrie, 1960). Regression analyses were also carried out.

Experiment 2
From Experiment 1, it was found that all the GNC in the layer diet could be replaced by PKM without any significant reduction in performance. The proportion of P K M used when all GNC was replaced in this study was 37.5%. A second experiment was, therefore, carried out to test even higher levels of PKM. In this second experiment, P K M levels of 0, 40, 50, 60 and 70% were compared (Table 2). Some 200 birds of the Harco strain which were 31 weeks old were used in this study. Experimental details were as in Experiment 1 except that the period of study was for 6 months. RESULTS The results are presented in Table 3 for Experiment 1 and in Table 4 for Experiment 2. In Experiment 1, all the GNC could be replaced by P K M without any significant reduction in egg production rate, egg weight, feed intake, feed efficiency or egg quality. The cost of producing a unit weight of the diet, however, declined with increasing levels of PKM and the cost of feed per kilogram of egg was significantly decreased as PKM was included in the diet. In Experiment 2, as the level of PKM increased to 70% there was a significant reduction in the rate of egg production (P < 0.05), egg weight (P < 0.01 ) and feed efficiency (P < 0.01 ) once the 40% level of PKM was exceeded. The cost of feed required to produce 1 kg of eggs was reduced by feeding with P K M and the lowest cost was obtained with the 40% level of PKM. Egg quality, as measured by Haugh units, was not significantly affected by PKM. For Experiment 1, regression analyses (Table 5) showed a significant relationship ( P < 0.01 ) only between the cost of feed per kilogram of eggs and the level of PKM. For Experiment 2, regression analyses (Table 5) showed significant relationships between the level of P K M and hen-day egg production (P < 0.001), feed intake (P < 0.001 ), kilograms of feed per kilogram of eggs (P < 0.001 ), cost of feed per kilogram of eggs (P < 0.001 ), egg weight (P < 0.05 ) and albumen percentage (P < 0.05). DISCUSSION The results of this study show that up to 40% PKM can be included in diets for laying birds without significantly reducing egg production or quality. With this level of inclusion, costly GNC can be dispensed with and the cost of production is reduced. With more than 40% PKM, egg production was reduced,

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TABLE 3 Performance of layingbirds given dietswith differentlevelsof P K M (Experiment I)

SEM

Proportion of GNC protein replaced by PKM protein (%) 0 Hen-day production (%) Egg weight (g) Daily egg output (g per hen) Daily feed intake (g) Kg feed/kg egg Weight gain (g) Albumen (%) Yolk (%) Shell (%) Haugh units Cost of 100 kg diet (N) ~ Cost of feed per kg egg (N) ~ Number dead (out of 40 birds) 60.5 57.2 34.6 111 3.23 509 61.1 28.9 9.78 78.5 93.2 3.00 3 25 63.3 57.4 36.3 118 3.26 594 61.8 29.4 9.36 76.6 85.3 2.78 2 50 62.6 57.5 36.0 117 3.26 533 61.7 29.7 9.50 78.7 80.7 2.63 3 75 59.6 57.7 34.4 115 3.35 497 61.4 29.4 9.18 77.2 75.5 2.53 0 100 60.2 56.9 34.3 115 3.36 481 61.8 28.7 9.49 75.7 70.4 2.37 3

1.86 1.30 1.07 2.26 0.15 38.4 0.59 0.29 0.66 2.23 0.12" -

1Nigerian Naira; N1.00= 1 US dollar at the time of study. *Significant at P < 0.05.

TABLE 4 Performance of hying birds given dietswith high levelsof P K M

PKM in diet (%) 0 Hen-day production (%) Egg weight (g) Daily egg output (g per hen) Daily feed intake (g) Kg feed per kg egg Albumen (%) Yolk (%) Shell (%) Haugh units Cost of 100 kg diet (N) ~ Cost of feed per kg egg (N) 1 Number dead ( out of 40 birds) 61.5 59.3 36.5 121 3.31 59.9 28.6 11.1 77.5 93.2 3.08 2 40 62.1 58.8 36.5 120 3.29 59.9 29.2 11.0 77.0 70.6 2.32 0 50 55.1 58.2 32.1 117 3.64 60.1 28.4 11.3 76.9 68.1 2.48 2 60 52.8 57.9 30.6 112 3.67 59.8 28.2 11.5 77.9 65.9 2.42 2 70 41.9 58.4 24.4 109 4.44 59.1 28.2 11.5 76.5 63.3 2.81 8 1.54" 1.09 1.11 0.45** 0.07 0.28* 0.67 0.46 0.43 0.05*

(Experiment 2)
SEM

~Nigerian Naira as in Table 3. *Significant at P < 0.05; **significant at P < 0.01.

TABLE 5

Regression of various parameters on t h e level of P K M 1 r

Sb

Experiment -0.78 2.97 -6.09X10-3X 0.18 1.34X10 -8 -

D e p e n d e n t variable

Equation

Syx

t
4.55***

1 PKMupto

Cost of feed per kg egg

40% level -0.94 - 0.98 0.94 0.95 - 0.52 -0.61 121.2 3.24 - 0.025X+ 62.16 60.14 - 3.75 X 1 0 - s X 3 + 4.69 X 1 0 - s X 4 4.15 X 10- sX 3 + 3.08 X 0.07X -3.83X10-sX 4 0.93 0.16 0.104 2.82 0.46 62.34 -8.35X10-TX 4 2.80 8.40X10 -8 2.01 X 10 -~ 4.72 X 10 -9 4.85 X 10- 7 0.03 1.39X10 -8 9.94*** - 18.67"** 9.93*** 8.57*** - 2.22* - 2.76*

2 PKMupto

Egg production

70% level

Feed intake Kg feed/kg egg Cost of feed per kg egg Egg weight Albumen (%)

i r = correlation coefficient; Syx--- s t a n d a r d error of the estimate; Sb = s t a n d a r d error of the regression coefficient; X (in E x p e r i m e n t 1 ) = proportion of GNC protein replaced by P K M protein and (in E x p e r i m e n t 2) = level of P K M . *Significant at P < 0.05; ***significant at P < 0.001.

285 the reduction apparently being related to a significant decline in feed intake. It may be that beyond this level the diet became unpalatable. Temperton and Dudley (1940) had reported that P K M was palatable to layers, but probably did not include as much as 40% P K M in their diets. The amino acid levels of all the diets met the requirements stated by the National Research Council (1977). However, the calculations show that for the diets containing 0, 40, 50, 60 and 70% PKM, the contributions of PKM to the lysine content were 0, 33, 39, 45 and 54%, respectively. The corresponding values for the sulphur amino acids were 0, 41, 50, 57 and 67%, respectively. The amino acid availability of PKM has been shown to be low relative to the availability of amino acids from GNC (Onwudike, 1986a). With the increased supply of amino acids from P K M at the higher levels of PKM, the overall availability of amino acids in the diet will be reduced. The available amino acids at the high levels of PKM might not have met the requirements for egg production, hence the reduced rate of lay. This problem of low availability of amino acids would have been further compounded by the reduced feed intake at the higher levels of PKM. It is pertinent to mention that Hill (1969) reported that both lysine and methionine are required for optimum feed intake. The low availability of these 2 amino acids at the higher levels of PKM could have caused the reduced feed intake. The gritty nature of PKM, which was more pronounced at the higher levels of PKM, could also have affected the palatability of the feed. The increased crude fibre level at the higher levels of PKM might also have affected the utilization of nutrients. A very noticeable observation at the high levels of PKM was the very watery faeces produced by the birds given diets with 50, 60 and 70% PKM in Experiment 2. The cause of this is not very clear. One possible explanation is that birds on these levels of P K M drank more water since feed intake was low. This possibility has been pointed out by Patrick and Schaible (1980). They showed that ~ 25% of the water required by birds comes from the metabolism of protein, fats and carbohydrates and that as birds consume less feed, additional water must be drunk to meet daily requirements. Another possibility is the increased fibre level at the higher levels of PKM. Patrick and Schaible (1980) also showed that when birds are fed on diets high in fibre, their water requirements are increased. There may be other reasons arising from the very nature and chemical composition of PKM. Stevenson and Jackson (1981), when giving dried skim milk to broilers, reported very watery faeces with the inclusion of high levels of skim milk in the diet. This was attributed to the lactose content of the ration. The same workers ( 1983 ) noted watery faeces from broilers given diets with high levels of dried cassava meal. They showed that the production of watery faeces was due to changes in the pattern of fermentation in the caeca associated with the levels of cassava meal. It appears that the watery faeces produced from the consumption of different ingredients can be caused by different factors, depending on the nature of the ingredient. More studies need to

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be carried out in order to ascertain the cause of the watery faeces produced at high levels of P K M . T h e fact that laying birds could utilize up to 4 0 % P K M and also that this reduced the cost of egg production and improved the efficiency of production must be regarded as being of practical significance.

REFERENCES Hill,F.W., 1969. Poultry nutritionand nutrient requirements. In: D.P. Cuthbertson (Editor), InternationalEncyclopaedia of Food and Nutrition 17 (2).Pergamon, London. National Research Council, 1977. Nutrient requirements of domestic animals. No. 1. Nutrient requirements of poultry.7th edn. NAS-NRC, Washington, DC. Onwudike, O.C., 1986a. Palm kernel meal as a feed for poultry. 1. Composition of palm kernel meal and availability itsamino acidsto chicks.Anita.Feed Sci.Technol.,16: 179-186. of Onwudike, O.C., 1986b. Palm kernel meal as a feed for poultry.2. Diets containingpalm kernel meal for starterand grower pullets.Anita.Feed Sci.Technoh, 16" 187-194. Onwudike, O.C., 1986c.Palm kernelmeal as a feedforpoultry.3. Replacement of groundnut cake by palm kernelmeal in broilerdiets.Anita.Feed Sci.Technol.,16: 195-202. Patrick,H. and Schaible,P.J.,1980.Poultry:Feeds and Nutrition.Avi Publishing,Westport,CT, pp. 188-189. Steel,R.G.D. and Torrie,J.H.,1960. Principlesand Procedures of Statistics. McGraw-Hill, New York. Stevenson, M.H. and Jackson, N., 1981. The nutritionalvalue of driedskim milk in broilerdiets. J. Sci.Food Agric.,32: 79-86. Stevenson, M.H. and Jackson, N., 1983,The nutritionalvalueof driedcassavarootmeal in broiler diets.J. Sci.Food Agric.,34: 1361-1367. Temperton, H. and Dudley, F.J.,1940. Palm kernel and earthnut meals in the rationsof laying pullets.Harper Adams Util.Poult.J.,25: 285-287.