The effects of dietary protein and energy levels on egg production of chicken in the tropics

S.W. Yeong and M. Faizah

Abstract

Two trials were conductedt o studyt he effectso f dietaryp rotein and energy levelso n the egg layingp erformanceo f Hisex Brown layersi n the tropics. Diets varying in protein and energy levels, i.e., 15, 17 and l9Vo protein and 10.9,1 1.5a nd12.1M. J/kgm etabolizableen ergy( ME) (Trial I) and 15, 16 andlTVo protein and 10.5, 11.1 and 11.5 MJ/kg ME (Trial II) were used. The birds consumed more protein and energy when the dietary protein and energyl evelsi ncreasedR. esultsf rom 52-weekl aying period in both trials showedt hat there was no significantd ifferencei n eggp roduction,t otal egg mass and feed to egg mass ratio in terms of dietary protein levels. However, in terms of energyl evelss ignificantlyp oorer egg laying performance (P<0.05)w aso btainedf rom birdsf ed dietsw ith highM E (12.1M J/kg). There was a trend exhibiting slightly lower egg production in birds fed diets with low protein or low ME levels. For maximum egg productioq, layers in the tropics should be fed diets containing lTVo protein d ring high production period and l1Va protein during low production period with 1 1 . 1 - 11.5 MJ/ke ME.

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