Assessment Of Layer Husbandry Practices, Nutrient Evaluation Of Layer Commercial Feeds And Their Effects On Production Performance And Egg Weight In Bishoftu Town, Lume And Ada’a Woredas, Ethiopia
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Date
2025
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Addis Abeba University
Abstract
The productivity and efficiency of layer chickens are heavily influenced by husbandry practices and the quality of feed. A Cross sectional study design was conducted in Bishoftu town, Ada’a and Lume Woredas, from October, 2024 to May, 2025 to assess layer husbandry practices, nutrient evaluation of layer commercial feeds and their effects on production performance and egg weight. A total of 89 layer farms, 67, 13, and 9 small, medium and large-scale layer farms, respectively, were purposefully selected using a snowball sampling method. Data was gathered through questionnaires, and feed samples were analyzed to determine their chemical composition. Daily records were kept on egg production and feeding practices, while egg weight was determined by weighing sample eggs from each farm. Descriptive statistics and Analysis of variances (ANOVA) were used to analyse the results. The findings of this study indicated that intensive layer keeping system (100%), commercial mash feed forms (100%), and thrice-feeding frequency (82%), controlled feeding method (100%), and supplement vitamins (100%) are all used by the layer farmers in the study area. Commercial layer feed from the same suppliers was utilized by 52.81% of layer farmers in the research area because of personal quality perception (48.31%), nearby availability (52.81%), and cheaper price (5.62%). Due to a lack of laboratory access, not all layer farmers in the study area evaluated feed quality (100%). Eight hens per square meter are provided by the commercial layer producers, who also use a deep litter housing system (94%), dispose of litter material at the end of the laying cycle (92%) and use natural ventilation (100%). Despite frequent power outages (100%), commercial layer farmers use electric power (100%) to provide a photoperiod of 12–16 hours. The Newcastle disease (73%) mostly affects the commercial layer farmers though they administer vaccine against the disease (76.4%). Feed analysis result revealed that the nutrient composition of layers feed: Crude protein, Crude fat, crude fiber, total ash, metabolizable energy and nitrogen free extract were statistically significant (p <0.05) among different feed sources. The analysis revealed that 91.09-92.25% dry matter, 14.51-19.96% crude protein, 3.87 to 5.60% crude fat, 3.72-5.26% Crude fiber, 11.0-17.76% ash and 2742.50 to 2914.07 kcal/kg metabolizable energy for commercial layer diet processed by different feed processing plant. The study showed that the effects of different feed sources on the hen- day egg production, egg weight and feed intake were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). By providing 107-122 g of feed per day, the commercial layer farmers achieve 58-94% henday egg production with 57-60.6 g egg weight, resulting in a feed conversion ratio of 1.1- 2.9. This study confirmed that commercial layer farmers that rear the same breed and identical laying stages feed layer chickens obtained from different feed processing plants result in layer diets with variable nutritional contents, which affects the weight and egg production of the layers. Therefore, there should be training for poultry farm owners on husbandry practices, strict regulation of layers feed producing companies on the composition of the feed and strict regular vaccination schedule should be applied.
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Keywords
Commercial feeds, Egg weight, Feed conversion ratio, Hen Day Egg Production, Husbandry practice, Poultry production, proximate analysis