Effect of Moringa oleifera Leaf Meal on the Production Performance and Health Status of Rhode Island Red Hens

The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of dietary Moringa oleifera leaf meal (MOLM) on production performance, egg quality traits and health status of Rhode Island Red (RIR) layers. One hundred and eighty, 24-week-old RIR layer birds were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments, each having three replicates containing 15 birds per replicate. The treatments were T₁ (Control: Basal diet); T₂: 1% MOLM in basal diet; T₃: 3% MOLM in basal diet; T₄: 5% MOLM in basal diet. The results revealed that average daily feed intake per bird (g/day) was lower (P<0.05) for hens supplemented with MOLM, with no effect on feed conversion ratio. The average hen-day egg production (%) and hen-housed egg production (%) of the experiment were higher (P<0.05) in T₃ and T₄ groups as compared to T₁. In addition, average egg weight was lower (P<0.05) in T₄ than in all other groups. Shell thickness was higher (P<0.05) in T₃ and T₄ than in T₂ and T₁. However, egg length, egg width, shape index and shell weight were not affected by dietary treatments. The overall mean of albumen height, albumen width, albumen index, yolk width, yolk weight, Haugh unit and yolk colour score were improved (P<0.05) for MOLM supplemented groups than the control group. Except for triglycerides, all serum biochemical parameters were not affected by the addition of MOLM. Based on these findings, it was concluded that dietary inclusion of MOLM for RIR hens beneficially improves their performance and health status.