Department of Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology, College of Veterinary Science |and Animal Husbandry, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur482001, India
Online published on 5 January, 2012.
In a 57 d feeding experiment, 75 layers (30 weeks age) distributed into 15 replicates of 5 birds each and fed control diet with maize (T1) and the diets where maize was replaced with Koda (Paspalun scorbiculatum) at 20 (T2) 40 (T3), 60 (T4), and 80 per cent levels (T5). Replacement of maize with Kodo did not influence the weight gain but increased the feed intake of birds significantly (P < 0.05). The egg production was 74.4 per cent in birds receiving diet T1 while it was 73.7 per cent in birds receiving diet T5. The highest egg production (77.4 per cent) and the lowest feed cost/dozen eggs were in birds receiving diet T4. The per cent energy and protein retention, however, decreased in birds receiving experimental diets. Except the visual yolk score which was significantly low in the eggs of birds receiving diets T3, T4 and T5, other egg quality traits were not influenced significantly due to Kodo incorporation.
