Determination of Nutritive Value and Effect of Different Levels of Prosopis juliflora Pods on Performance of Laying Hens

This study was carried out to determine the nutritional value and the effect of different levels of prosopis juliflora pods (fruit contain seed and pod) on laying hen performance. The amount of AME, AMEn, TME and TMEn of prosopis juliflora were 3041.81, 3041.75, 3591.51 and 3592.97 kcal/kg, respectively. Crude protein, crude fiber, ash, crude fat, calcium, phosphorus, total tannins and total extractable phenolic were 11.75, 18.8, 0.5, 1.60, 0.55, 0.09, 5.03 and 4.8 percent, respectively on dry matter basis. There were significant differences for TME and TMEn among treatments (P <0.05). In order to study the effects of mesquite pods on laying hens performance, 120 white Leghorn laying hens(at 47 weeks of age) were allocated in a completely randomized design with four treatments and six replications (five hens in each replicate) for 14 weeks (two weeks for adaption and 12 weeks for sampling). Experimental treatments were diets with 0, 5, 10 and 15 percent of mesquite pods. The results showed that there were significant differences (P< 0.05) for egg production, egg mass, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, albumen height, haugh unit, egg shell weight and specific gravity among experimental groups. In conclusion, it is suggested that Prosopis juliflora pods can be included up to 10% in diet of laying hens.