Utilisation of enzyme supplemented groundnut cake based diets by laying hens

A total of 300, twenty weeks old laying hens were used in a feeding trial to evaluate the utilisation of Peanut meal popularly called groundnut cake (GNC) based diets supplemented with enzymes by laying hens. Five dietary treatments were formulated to meet standard nutrient requirements of layers viz: 1. maize- soya beans meal (M-SBM) diet,2. maizegroundnut cake (M-GNC) diet without enzyme supplementation,3. M-GNC diet plus protease, 4. M-GNC diet plus G2G (an enzyme complex containing carbohydrases) and 5. M-GNC diet plus a combination of protease and G2G. The laying hens were distributed in a completely randomized design into the five dietary treatments, each having 3 replicates with 20 birds/replicate housed in deep litter pens. Hens were fed their allotted diet and water ad libitum for twelve weeks. All data collected were subjected to analysis of variance NOVA and treatment means were separated using DMRT. Body weights of birds were better sustained by M-GNC diets supplemented with enzymes and particularly improved by the GNC diet supplemented with G2 G than the M-SBM diet. Feed consumption was not significantly (P >0.05) different for all the treatment groups. All GNC diets supplemented with enzymes had significantly (P < 0.05) lower feed cost than the SBM based control diet. Best results were obtained for the GNC diet supplemented with a combination of protease and G2G in terms of total egg number (54.5 eggs/hen), average egg weight (56.9 g/egg), egg mass (3101.1g/hen), income above feed cost (756.4 Naira/hen), Hen-day production (67.9 %) and Henhoused production (67.9 %) compared with the performance of birds fed the most expensive SBM diet with values of 50.4 eggs/hen, 56.6 g/egg, 2854.5 g/hen, 686.6 Naira/hen, 63.2% and 63.2% for the parameters respectively. Cost of producing a dozen eggs was highest for SBM diet (170.4 Naira/dozen eggs) than for GNC diets; supplemented with protease (153.2 Naira/dozen eggs), G2G (162.1 Naira/dozen eggs), and with a combination of protease and G2G (163.4 Naira/dozen eggs). Zero mortality was recorded for SBM, GNC plus protease and GNC plus protease and G2 G diets, while highest value of 7.9 % was recorded for GNC diet not supplemented with any enzyme. The utilization of the Groundnut cake can be optimally enhanced by the use of enzymes, particularly a combination of protease and G2G supplementation in layer diets. Production cost is lowered while income is increased by using GNC diets with enzyme supplementation than using SBM diet.Keywords: Soya bean meal, groundnut cake, laying hens, enzymes, performanc