Effect of dietary Abelmoschus esculentus leaf meal on performance and egg quality indices of laying hens

Twelve weeks feeding trial involving 75 point of lay hens of black Harco breed was carried out to study the effects of dietary inclusion of Abelmoschus esculentus leaf meal (AELM) on the performance and egg quality characteristics of the birds. Fresh Abelmoschus esculentus leaves were harvested, spread out and air-dried in a green house and allowed to dry for 6 days until it became crispy. The branches were threshed carefully to separate the leaf from the twig before milling to fine particle size to form Abelmoschus esculentus leaf meal (AELM). Proximate analysis of AELM and dietary treatments were analyzed Gross energy of leaf meal was carried out using an adiabatic bomb calorimeter model CAL 2k. The 75 birds were grouped into five dietary treatments comprising 15 birds each in a completely randomized (CRD) design. The treatments were further subdivided into three replicates of five birds each. Five iso-nitrogenous and iso-caloric diets were formulated as_0, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, and 10% inclusion levels in diets 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively. The result of the proximate composition of AELM showed that the crude protein, crude fibre, crude fat or ether extract, ash and ME values were 13.15, 10.11, 6.0% and 1308.41 Kcal/kg respectively. Average final weight, average weight gain, feed intake and hen- day production were significantly (P<0.05) affected by the inclusion level of Abelmoschus esculentus leaf meal. Birds in the control group and those fed diet containing 5% Abelmoschus esculentus leaf meal had similar final weight (1.53kg) and higher than other treatment groups. The highest (P<0.05) hen-day production was recorded at 5% inclusion level while 2.5%, 7.5% and 10% levels had comparable values ( 49.13, 46.98 and 49.21). Internal and external egg qualities as affected by AELM inclusion levels showed that the egg, shell, yolk, albumen weights were significantly (P< 0.05) influenced by the dietary treatments with the group of birds on 10% recording highest values. Significant (P<0.05) improvement in yolk weight and colour was observed in the AELM treated birds compared to the control. The total lipid profile of eggs revealed significant (P<0.05) differences in the cholesterol, triglyceride, high density lipoprotein and low density lipoprotein values measured. A linear trend was observed in the recorded cholesterol, triglyceride and high density lipoprotein (HDL) values. The values decreased with increased AELM inclusion. It can therefore be concluded at the level of this study that Abelmoschus esculentus leaf meal inclusion in the diet of laying birds improved performance and egg quality indices with desirable aesthetic effect on egg yolk colour.Keywords: Abelmoschus esculentus, leaf meal, layers, performance, egg quality, total lipi