Replacing soybean meal with roasted pigeon pea and its effect on feed intake and egg production of Bovans Brown layers

Dawit Belay, Gebremedhn Beyene¹ and Kidane Hintsa¹

Tigray Agricultural Research Institute, Shire-Maitsebri Agricultural Research Center
¹ Mekelle University, College of Dryland Agriculture and Natural Resources, Department of Animal, Rangeland and Wildlife Sciences; P.o.Box: 231, Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia
gebremedhnb2008@gmail.com

Abstract

The study was conducted to evaluate the replacement of soybean meal with roasted pigeon pea (Cajanuscajan) seed meal on feed intake, egg laying performance, feed conversion ratio and feeding economics of layers. The experimental rations were formulated to be iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous. A total of 105 commercial Bovans brown egg laying hens of 6 months old with body weight of (1412.04g ± 71.095g) were used. The experiment was conducted for 90 days with 10 days adaptation period designed using Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with 5 treatments and replicated 3 times. Treatments were contain 0% (control), 25%, 50%, 75% and 100 % level of RPSM replaced to soybean meal for RPSM0, RPSM3.75, RPSM7.5, RPSM11.25 and RPSM15, respectively. The treatment rations were containing a range of 2882.28 - 2899.53 kcal/kg DM of ME and 16.63 – 16.92% CP. Data were analyzed using General Linear Model (GLM) of the SAS software and Tukey’s Studentized Range Test (HSD) method. There was no significant (p>0.05) difference in DM intake, body weight change and feed conversion ratio among treatments. There was significant (p<0.05) difference in HDEP among treatments with highest (71.46%) and the lowest (63.22%) HDEP result in RPSM0 and RPSM15, respectively. Therefore, it was concluded that roasted pigeon pea seed meal can replace soybean meal up to 75% in layers diet without negative effect on feed intake, body weight change and feed conversion ratio of layers.

Key words: layers, locally available, pigeon pea seed, profitability, soybean

Introduction

Feed cost for poultry production is increasing due to limited availability of cereals and oil cakes Ponnuvel et al (2014) and since the demand for the cereals is increasing highly resulted by the alarming population growth of the developing countries. As a result, the commercial layer feed is expensive and not easily available by smallholder poultry producers which causes feed problem (both quality and quantity) in developing countries like in Ethiopia (Sebho 2016). Therefore, there is need to reduce the competition between human and livestock for the same feedstuffs by turning to unconventional feedstuffs and it is better to utilize locally available non-conventional feed resources.

In poultry industry Soybean meal is widely used as high protein feed ingredient with close to ideal in amino acid profile. However, there is no access of soybean meal for smallholders in the country in general and Tigray region in particular. Hence, based on Lekule & Kyvsgaard (2003), Girma et al (2012) and Swain et al (2013) searching of alternative feed sources is required to reduce the feed cost. As a result one of the important but less known plant protein sources is pigeon pea seed meal (Amaefule et al 2007) and can be used as alternative to replace protein sources like soybean meal.

Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) has numerous uses in animal feeding and the seed can be fed to poultry (Orwa et al 2009). As reported by Odeny (2007); Amaefule and Onwudike (2000) pigeon pea is good source protein, energy and considerable amount of minerals which makes close to that of soybean. This directs that pigeon pea seed meal can replace the commercial plant protein sources like soybean meals which are used as poultry protein source feed ingredient. Raw pigeon pea seeds like other legume seeds contain Anti-Nutritional Factors (ANFs) that can positively treat by heat treatments (Udedibie and Carlini 2002; Onu and Okongwu 2006). Generally, even though, pigeon pea seed is promising to the poultry feed industry; there is limited information on the effect of roasted pigeon pea seed meal on feed intake and performance of layers by replacing to soybean meal in their diet. Therefore, the objective of the study was to see the effect of replacing soybean meal with roasted pigeon pea seed meal on feed intake, egg production, feed conversion efficiency and feeding economics of Bovan Brown layers.

Materials and methods

Description of the study area

The experiment was conducted in Shire Endaslasse district which is located in North-western zone of Tigray. Tigray regional state is located in the northern part of Ethiopia. North-western zone is one of the six administrative zones in Tgray region which is located at 307 km west of Mekelle and 1087 km from Addis Ababa via Mekelle. Shire Endaslasse district (Shire Endaslasse city) has an average altitude of 1923 m.a.s.l as well as it is found at 14⁰6'18'' North and 34⁰ 17' 4'' East (Satellite Map). It is surrounded by Tahtay-Koraro district and it is the capital city of North Western Zone administration as well it serves as the center of administration for Tahtay-Koraro district. Shire Endaslasse has savannah climatic condition with average rain fall reaching 800-1000 mm and mean annual temperature of 15 - 20⁰C (BOANR unpublished report 2020).

Feed ingredients and experimental ration

The feed ingredients used in the formulation of the different experimental rations for the study were maize grain, Sorghum Grain, pigeon pea seed meal, wheat bran, noug seed cake, sesame seed cake, soybean meal, salt, limestone, and L-lysine Hcl and Di-calcium phosphate. All the feed ingredients for the experiment were purchased from available market of Shire Endaslasse except Soybean meal, L-lysine Hcl and Di-calcium phosphate. Soybean meal was purchased from Addis Ababa and both the L-lysine Hcl and Di-calcium phosphate was purchased from Mekelle. Maize grain, Sorghum Grain, pigeon pea seed meal, sesame seed cake, noug seed cake, and soybean meal were hammer milled to 5 mm sieve size and stored until required for formulation of the experimental rations. The five treatment rations used in this study were formulated to be iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous with 2800 - 2900 kcal ME/kg DM and 16 - 17% CP (NRC,1994) to meet the nutrient requirements of layers and the ration was formulated using the feed- win ration formulation software. In the treatments soybean meal was replaced with pigeon pea level by level.

Source and roasting method of pigeon pea seeds

The white type of pigeon pea seed was collected from Shire Maitsebri agricultural research center. The pigeon pea seed was roasted for 3-5 minute at about 80⁰C (Akande et al 2010) using locally available frying pan until some color change comes then it was coarsely grind before incorporation into the diets.

Experimental chickens and their management

A total of 105 commercial Bovans Brown egg laying hens of 6 month old with similar body weight and husbandry were purchased from the local private chicken distributor. Before the commencement of the actual experiment, the experimental pens, watering and feeding troughs were thoroughly cleaned, disinfected and sprayed. The layers were kept in deep litter experimental house which was partitioned into 2.25 m²pens by wire-mesh. The birds were supplied artificial light for about four o’clock in addition to the natural day light throughout the whole experiment. Sawdust litter material of 07 cm up to 10 cm depth was used. The wet litter was changed with dry, disinfected, and clean sawdust in the middle of the experiment. All health precautions and disease control measures was carefully followed throughout the study period. Feed was offered in hanging tubular feeders, which was suspended approximately at a height of the backs of the birds and water was provided in plastic fountains freely. The feeding and watering troughs were cleaned every morning.

Experimental design and treatments

The experimental design was completely randomized design (CRD), with five treatments having 3 replications and 7 birds per replicate. Birds were randomly allocated to dietary treatments. The experiment was conducted for 90 days and 10 days of adaptation period.

The treatments were pigeon pea replacement to soybean meal at the rate of 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100 % level in the rations to be formulated for RPSM0, RPSM3.75, RPSM7.5, RPSM11.25 and RPSM15, respectively. Because different authors (Amaefule et al 2013; Amaefule and Obioha (2007); Allah (2005) have recommend different percentage of pigeon pea replacement to soybean meal and different level of inclusion in the layers diet.

Chemical analysis of the feed ingredients

Representative samples was taken randomly from each of the feed ingredients that were used in the experimental diet for laboratory analysis except the premixes and salt before formulating the actual dietary treatments. Samples were also taken for chemical analysis from each treatment ration. Feed samples were analyzed for dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), crude fiber (CF) and ash according to Weende or proximate analysis method (AOAC 1990). Nitrogen (N) content was determined by Kjeldahl procedure and crude protein (CP) were calculated as Nx6.25. Chemical analyses of feeds were done in the nutrition laboratory of Hawasa University. Metabolizable energy (ME) of the experimental diets was determined by indirect method according to Wiseman (1987) as follows:

ME (Kcal/kg DM) = 3951 + 54.4 EE – 88.7 CF – 40.8 Ash

Feed intake and body weight change

A weighed amount of feed was offered three times a day (7:00 - 7:30 AM, 12:01 - 12:30 PM and 5:00-5:30 PM) regularly and feed left over was collected before offering new feed and weighed after removing external contaminants by visual inspection. For each replicate the feed offered and refused were recorded and multiplied by respective DM content. The amount of feed consumed was determined as the difference between the feed offered and refused on DM weekly basis. Body weight of all birds was taken at the start (initial weight) and at the end of the experimental period (final weight). Body weight change and the average daily gain were calculated as follow.

BWG = Final Body Weight - Initial Body Weight

Where, BWG= Body Weight Gain; FBW = Final Body Weight; IBW= Initial Body Weight

Egg production and feed conversion ratio

Eggs in each pen were collected two times a day (11:30 AM and 5:00 PM) regularly. The sum of the two collections along with the number of birds alive on each day was recorded and summarized at the end of the period. Rate of lay for each replicate was expressed as the average percentage hen-day and hen-housed egg production following the method of Hunton (1995) as follows:

Feed conversion ratio per mass and per dozen of eggs were estimated with feed intake over the average egg weight as well as how many dozen of eggs produced in each experimental period using the following equations:

Statistical model and data analysis

The collected data was analyzed using General Linear Model of SAS software (SAS 2008, version 9.2). The significant differences (p≤0.05) between treatments means were separated using Tukey’s Studentzed Range Test (HSD) method. The following model was used for the experiment (Gomez and Gomez 1984).

Y _ij = µ + i + e _ij Where, Y _ij = Response variable

µ = overall mean

i = i^th treatment effect (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

E _ij = Random error effect

Results

Chemical composition of feed ingredients and treatment diets

The results for the chemical composition of each ingredient used in the formulation of dietary rations for each treatment is described Table 2.

Egg production performance, feed intake and body weight change of layers

There was highly significant (p<0.05) difference in hen day egg production, hen housed egg production and egg mass produced among the treatments as presented in Table 4. But there was no significant (p> 0.05) difference in dietary dry matter intake and body weight change and the other listed parameters among the treatments. The mean of the dry matter intake (g/bird/day) and body weight change (g/hen) throughout the experiment was 105.44 ± 6.02 and 138.83 ± 68.32, respectively.

Discussion

Chemical composition of feed ingredients and treatment diets

The Chemical composition result of RPSM used in this study was with 92.72% DM, 2956.34 kcal ME, 19.71% CP, 0.69% EE, 10.05% CF and 3.45% Ash. The CP content of the RPSM in this experiment is found in the range of 17.9 - 24% CP content reported by Emefiene et al (2014) and Elsayed et al (2014). In comparison with the result of Akande et al (2010); Amaefule et al (2007); Arif et al (2017), the current experiment shows the lowest Crud protein content. The result of these authors was reported in the range of 22-27 % CP content (Akande et al 2010; Arif et al 2017). Similarly 25.37- 27.34 % of CP content was reported by (Amaefule et al 2007).

The CF% of RPSM in the current experiment was similar with the proximate composition of RPSM results reported by Arif et al (2017) and Agwunobi (2000) but higher value than the report of (Akande et al 2010; Allah 2005; Amaefule et al 2007). The reason for different results of nutritional value of pigeon pea seed by different authors may be come from the difference in variety, growth condition, storage duration, soil, processing method and other reasons. These differences in results are supported by Akande (2015) that shows the protein content of pigeon pea cultivars vary between 17.9% up to 24.3% of CP. Feeds with > 18% protein content is classified as protein feeds. As a result, pigeon pea seed meal is classified in the protein feed ingredients.

There were no differences between the experimental diets in their proximate composition as they were formulated to be iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous based NRC (1994) as indicated in Table 3. The experimental diets were prepared in the range of 2882.28 – 2899.53 kcal/kg DM metabolizable energy and 16.63% – 16.92% crud protein content with the recommended ratio of 2:1 up to 4:1 Ca: P ratio FAO (2003) and the critical amino acids were considered. Both the ether extract and crud fiber percentages were thoroughly prepared to be less than the maximum tolerable level (<8%) and the minimum requirement of layers for those critical essential amino acids and minerals was considered (NRC 1994).

Dry matter intake and body weight change

There was no significant (p>0.05) difference in dry matter intakes of layers fed diets with different levels of RPSM replaced to soybean meal in comparison to those layers fed control diet (RPSM0). As a result there was no difference in body weight change and average daily weight gain among the treatments. The mean dry matter intake, body weight change and average daily weight gain in the experiments was 105.44 ± 6.02 g/hen, 138.83 ± 68.32 g/hen and 1.54 ± 0.76 g/hen, respectively. This result shows RPSM can replace SBM without adverse effect on feed intake and body weight of layers which is in agreement with (Amaefule et al 2006 and 2007). The current result was also agreed with that of Amaefule et al (2013); Amaefule and Obioha (2007) that shows 30% of raw, boiled or toasted PSM diet for layers is possible without adverse effects on their growth and egg production. Similarly there was no significant difference in feed intake and growth performance by replacing the commercial feeds up to 25% in layers (Allah 2005) by RPSM. There was no significant (p>0.05) difference in daily feed intake of layers feed different graded level of sunflower seed meal replaced to soybean meal (Shi et al 2012) and replacement of soybean meal with lupin meal in their diet (Beyene et al 2014). In pullets and layers experimental trials uniformity of body weight is important managerial activity (Sosnówka-Czajkaet al 2010).

Egg mass and egg production

The average number of eggs laid per one layer was 64.2, 63.7, 60.3, 64.2 and 56.9 for RPSM0, RPSM3.75, RPSM7.5, RPSM11.25 and RPSM15, respectively. Based on the result of this experiment, there was highly significant (p<0.01) differences in average hen day egg production (HDEP) among treatments. The highest (71.46%) and the lowest (63.22) HDEP result was recorded in RPSM0 and RPSM15, respectively. In case of hen-housed egg production (HHEP) highly significant (p<0.0001) differences among treatments was observed. RPSM15 shows highly significant (p<0.0001) difference in HHEP than the other treatments. The egg mass (g/hen/day) in the study was in the range of 41.63 – 35.22 with the higher value in RPSM0, RPSM3.75 and RPSM11.25 than the value in RPSM7.5 and RPSM15.

Generally the HDEP, HHEP and egg mass in RPSM0, RPSM3.75 and RPSM11.25 was higher than RPSM7.5 and RPSM15 as indicated in Table 4. The differences in HDEP and HHEP could be due to the low CP% content and higher crud fiber content coming from RPSM replaced to soybean meal in the treatment diets. This may have its own negative effect on egg production performance of layers since it may be limited the supply of essential nutrients to satisfy the performance requirements of the birds. This finding was in agreement to the result of Agwanobi (2000) that denotes egg production decreases when pullets fed ration formulated from Pigeon pea seed meal that replaced to soy bean meal. Similarly, Bonekamp et al (2010) reported that increasing in balanced protein significantly affects egg mass production positively and this indicates that the balanced protein of RPSM may not be easily available as that of soybean meal. This result was in consistent with the result of Rose et al (1972) that indicates sunflower seed meal can replace 50% soybean meal protein without adverse effect on performance of layers. But, 100% replacement of soybean meal protein with sunflower seed meal resulted in decreased egg production and feed efficiency. However, the result of the present finding was in contrast with the finding of Shi et al (2012) that shows no significant difference in the performance and egg laying hens that fed graded levels of sunflower seed meal replaced to soybean meal in their feed.

Although there was significant differences in egg production and egg mass among treatments, the HDEP range was between 71.46% - 63.22% which was higher than the results of Amaefule et al (2007) which was within 55.07% - 67.04% range of HDEP for black Bovan Nera pullets fed 30% of RPSM in their diet. Similarly, the current result was higher than the result of HDEP reported by Gebremedhn et al (2018) on effect of brewery spent grain inclusion in Bovans brown chickens. These differences may be associated with the feed type, management, age and strain of layers used in the experiments.

Feed conversion ratio

The average mean of the FCR/Mass and FCR/Dozen of the experiment was 2.93±0.61 and 2.06 ± 0.44, respectively. Feed conversion ratio of the layers is significantly correlated with protein content of feed (Rashid et al 2004). There was no significant difference in FCR among the current results of the study. The result was in agreement to Amaefule et al (2006 and 2007); Amaefule and Obiioha (2007). But the results disagree with the finding of Agwanobi (2000) which shows decreasing in FCR when the commercial feed is replaced by pigeon pea seed meal. As described by Hurnik et al (1977), FCR is mainly influenced by the number of eggs produced (51%) followed by feed intake (31%) and weight of the egg (18%). Since there was no variation in feed intake and egg weight among the treatments, difference in FCR is not observed.

Conclusion

Among the diets evaluated, the diet group with 75% SBM replaced by RPSM gives comparable result of egg production with the treatment diet completely formulated by SBM (controlled treatment) without any adverse effect on feed intake, body weight change and feed conversion ratio. It was concluded that 75% of SBM could be replaced by RPSM in layers diet.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Tigray Agricultural Research Institute (Shire-Maitsebri Agricultural Research Center) and Mekelle University for covering the research cost.

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