Use of High Levels of Full-Fat Soybeans in Laying Hen Diets

To examine the effects of various inclusion levels of full-fat soybeans (FFSB) on laying hen performance and eggshell quality during peak production, 288 Bovans White strain laying hens, 33 to 42 wk of age, were randomly assigned to 4 dietary treatments. The diets were prepared with the inclusion of 0, 10, 16, and 22 % FFSB. Egg production was not significantly affected by any of the dietary treatments, whereas feed intake, egg weight, egg mass, and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were significantly affected. Overall, laying hens receiving the FFSB diets consumed significantly less feed than those on the control diet. Egg mass (gram per hen per day) tended to increase with increasing FFSB from 10 to 16 or 22 % relative to the control diet. The FCR was significantly improved by all diets containing FFSB (1.79, 1.80, and 1.80 feed:egg ratio for the diets containing 10, 16, and 22 % FFSB, respectively) compared with the control diet (1.87). However, none of the inclusion levels of FFSB in layer diets significantly affected shell weight, shell thickness, albumen height, or checked and cracked egg percentages. It was concluded that FFSB can be used in layer diets to an inclusion level of 22%. Key words: full-fat soybean, laying hen performance, egg quality 2005 J. Appl. Poult. Res. 14:32–3