Effects of hatchery waste instead of soybean meal on egg weight and blood parameters in laying hens

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of different levels of dietary hatchery waste meal (HWM) on egg weight and blood parameters in laying hens. A total of 240 fifty six week old laying hens (LSL) were randomly allocated to one of six treatment with four replicate cages of 5 birds per treatment. A group fed a basal corn- SBM diet and the other five groups were fed with diets prepared by introducing HWM into the same basal diet at the levels of 3 HWM, 6 HWM, 9 HWM, 12 HWM, and 15 HWM%. At the end of the experimental period (10 weeks) 5 birds from each treatment were randomly selected and blood samples were taken from their brachial veins and sera were harvested to analyze the specified serum variables. The highest serum concentrations of HDL and calcium were detected in HWM9 group. Dietary inclusion of HWM at the levels of 6, 9, 12 and 15 % resulted in significant reductions in serum glucose when compared with the control diet. Hatchery waste at the inclusion level of 6 % caused the highest average egg weight significantly (P<0.05) differing from those of the other treatments and the lightest eggs were produced by HWM9, HWM12, and HWM15 groups.According the results, it may be concluded that the HWM used in the current study can be included in layer diets with no adverse effect on egg weight and metabolism.