Effects of Varying Nutrient Densities on Production Performance of Aseel Layers

The present study was carried out to find the effect of feeding different diets with varying nutrient densities on the production performance of the Aseel, a native chicken breed of India during 25 to 40 weeks of age. At 24 weeks of age, 90 birds were randomly distributed into three groups (30 birds with six replicates of five birds in each group) and reared individually in California cages. Three diets with different nutrient densities viz., low density (LD: 2400 kcal/kg ME and 14% CP), medium density (MD: 2600 kcal/kg ME and 15% CP) and high density (HD: 2800 kcal/kg ME and 16% CP) were formulated using maize and soybean as the main feed ingredients and fed to the birds till they attained 40 weeks of age. Results revealed no significant effects of variation in nutrient density on egg production, feed conversion ratio, egg weight, egg quality traits, liveability, immune competence traits and serum biochemical parameters (serum protein and total cholesterol). However, BW gain (25 to 40 weeks) was significantly higher (P<0.05) in the HD as compared to the LD diet. Based on the overall performance, it is concluded that the die (LD) containing 2400 kcal/kg ME and 14% CP was adequate for Aseel breed of chicken to elicit optimum performance during 25–40 weeks of age.