Vol. 9, Special Issue 4, Part C (2024)

Author(s): Srishtipriya Prasad, Ripusudan Kumar, Bidhan C Mondal, Anil Kumar, Rabendra K Sharma and Munish Batra

Abstract: A feeding experiment was planned to investigate the effect of mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) waste in place of deoiled rice bran on production performance, egg quality and nutrient utilization in Rhode Island Red laying hens. 12 weeks duration feeding trial was conducted on seventy-two, 28 week old laying chickens i.e., 18 birds per treatment having three replicates of 6 birds each. Hens of T₁ (control) group were fed with basal diet containing deoiled rice bran as one of the feed ingredients, whereas in treatment groups T₂, T₃ and T₄, deoiled rice bran was replaced with mushroom waste at 1.5%, 4%and 5%, respectively. The laying hens' performance was assessed by recording weekly average feed intake, daily egg production, feed conversion ratio and feed cost of egg production. Results showed that the overall average egg production was found significantly (p≤0.05) higher in treatment groups T₃ and T₄ than control group. The egg quality parameters in terms of yolk cholesterol and triglycerides were significantly (p<0.05) reduced in T₃ and T₄ groups as compared to T₁ and T₂ groups. Nutrient utilization in terms of DM, CP, EE & OM utilization showed significant (p<0.05) improvement in T₃ and T₄ as compared to T₁and T₂ groups. The feed cost/ dozen eggs was significantly lowered in T₃ and T₄ as compared to T_1. Conclusion is that mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) waste in place of deoiled rice bran can be replaced @ 4% in diet of RIR laying hens without any adverse effect on performance and is beneficial for improving egg quality and nutrient utilization.

DOI: 10.22271/veterinary.2024.v9.i4Sc.1607