Effect of dietary energy and protein on performance of native laying hens of Mazandaran province

This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of different levels of metabolizable energy (2750, 2900 and 3050 kcal/kg) and crude protein (13, 15 and 17%) in the diet on the performance and egg quality of native laying hens of Mazandaran province at the first stage of production. For this purpose, two hundreds seventy 24-week-old native hens were randomly assigned to a 3×3 factorial design experiment. Egg production and feed intake were affected by different levels of energy (P0.05). Moreover, different levels of crude protein had significant effect on egg production (P