The effects of inclusion of amaranths (Amarantha caudatus) grain in layers’ diets on productive performance and egg quality parameters

Waseyehon Assen Abate, Mekonen Teshome, Solomon Demeke, Taye Tolemariam and Kalkidan Hassen¹

Jimma University College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Department of Animal Sciences, Jimma, Ethiopia P O Box 307, Jimma , Ethiopia
washassen@gmail.com
¹ Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), Jimma University, Jimma , Ethiopia

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to assess the impact of different levels of amaranth grain on the production performance and egg quality of laying hens. Four Iso-caloric and Iso-nitrogenous treatment diets containing 0% (A0), 10% (A10), 15% (A15) and 20% (A20) of Amaranth grains were formulated, based on the results of laboratory feed analytical data. Seventy two 32-week-old Tetra L Super B layers were randomly divided into four dietary treatments with three replicate pens having six hens per pen in a completely randomized design. The actual experiment lasts for 16 weeks. Daily feed intake, egg production and egg weight were monitored. Initial and final body weights of hens were taken. On weekly basis, 6 randomly collected eggs per pen were used to determine internal and external egg quality parameters. Amaranth seed contained 16.1 % crude protein; 5.6 % ether extract; 6.3 % crude fibre; 3.1 % total ash, 68.8 % nitrogen free extract, 0.09% Ca and 0.35% P. The performance data indicate that dietary inclusion amaranth seed did not affect the body weight of layers (p>0.05). Both hen-day egg production and egg mass were higher for hens offered A10 containing diets (p<0.05). However, there was no significant difference between all the treatment groups in any of the egg quality parameters measured. There was also no adverse health effects/ mortality encountered as a result of inclusion of up to 20% of Amaranth grains in to layers diet during the 16-week study period. In conclusion, Amaranth grains could safely be included up to 10 % in the diet of laying hens.

Key words: amaranth seed, laying performance, pseudo cereal, Tetra L Super B

Introduction

In poultry feed formulation, energy sources and protein supplements are the biggest components. The National Research Council (NRC 1994) suggested that the metabolizable energy and protein requirements of laying hens should range from 2700 to 2850 kcal/kg dry matter and 14.0 to 19.0%, respectively. Meeting these requirements for dietary protein contributes significantly to feed costs, as reported by (Beski et al 2015). Under the current Ethiopian condition, there is fluctuating prices of raw materials and mixed feed, which remain excessively high even when the price of the major component of mixed rations significantly falls (Ebsa et al 2019). Additionally, most of the feed ingredients used in chicken feeding are also used for human consumption, indicating that poultry is in direct competition with the human population for scarce energy concentrate. Thus, the scarcity and subsequent high prices of conventional protein and energy concentrates limit the productivity of poultry in Ethiopia (Yared et al 2019). This situation warrants the use of cheap and readily available local feed resources in poultry feeding in Ethiopia.

Amaranth and its products appear to be suitable as substitute for maize in poultry diet. The grain species, A. caudatus are of importance and contains 12.6 - 18.0% proteins, 5 - 8% fat, 60 - 65% saccharides and 3 - 5% of crude fibre (Cole 1979; Bressani et al 1993; Yanez et al 1994). Compared to cereal grains, amaranth grains are higher in protein of high biological value. It is rich in lysine and sulphur containing amino acids. Amaranth is easily cultivated and widely found in Ethiopia, Amaranthus caudatus being the dominant species distributed in most parts of the country (Zebdewos et al 2015). However, there is no comprehensive study conducted on the inclusion levels of amaranth grain on egg production performance of layers. The major objective of this study was to investigate the effect of inclusion of amaranth seed at different levels on the feed intake, laying performance and egg quality parameters of laying hens.

Materials and methods

Description of the study area

The feeding trial was conducted at Jimma University College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine (JUCAVM), Poultry Farm located at an elevation of 1750m above sea level and at 70 42’ 9’’N latitude and 36047’ 6’’E longitudes. The mean annual maximum and minimum temperature are 26.8 and 11.4⁰C and the mean annual maximum and minimum relative humidity are 91.4 and 39.9 % respectively. The average annual rainfall of the area is 1250 mm.The experiment lasted from June-September, 2022.

Experimental design and birds management

A total of 72 Tetra L Super B laying hens aged 32 weeks were assigned to four dietary treatments in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Each treatment had three replicated pens. Each replicate had six hens. The hens were housed in experimental pens of wire-mesh partitioned. The pens were installed with feeding troughs, drinking troughs, laying nests, and lighting facilities. The concrete floor was covered with 6-10 cm depth of sawdust as litter. Feed was offered twice a day. The hens were given two weeks of adaptation period to the diets followed by the actual feeding trial. Fresh clean water was provided at all times. Communal laying nests, covered with sawdust, were placed in each pen. A lighting schedule of 16 h/day was applied during laying period. Sanitation was observed at all times in the birds’ house. The birds received identical care and management. Any ill health signs are monitored throughout the study period.

Collection and Preparation of Amaranths Grains

The experiment involved amaranths grains obtained from farmers in Dankila Kebele, Guraferda wereda, Bench maji zone, South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. The grain was cleaned from any impurities before mixing with other feed ingredients.

Photo 1. Amaranthus caudatus plant and seed

Preparation of experimental diets

Four experimental diet were formulated by incorporating amaranth seed at 0%, (A0), 10% (A10), 15% (A15) and 20% (A20) levels and in which an attempt was made to maintain a constant energy and crude protein. The levels of limestone, layer premix, methionine and salt were kept constant in all the diets. Attempts were made to make the diets isochalori and isonitrogenous. Composition of the experimental layer diets are shown in Table 1.

Data collection

Production performance

Each day, a measured quantity of feed was offered to hens. Feed refused was recorded daily and feed intake was calculated on group basis. Individually, initial and final body weights of hens were taken; and body weight gain was calculated. Eggs were collected twice a day. The number and weight of eggs laid were recorded on the same day of collection. Egg production was calculated on a hen-day basis. Hen-day egg production (HDEP) was calculated as the number of eggs laid divided by the number of hens (Carter 1975). The egg mass was calculated by multiplying the average egg weight with HDEP. Then, feed conversion ratio (FCR) was calculated by dividing the feed intake by the egg mass.

Egg quality measurements

The egg quality parameters were determined every week by randomly collecting six eggs from each replicate. The individual eggs were weighed on a digital balance to the nearest of 0.01 g accuracy. The egg length (upper end to the lower end) and width (centre of the egg or equator) were measured using Vernier caliper with the least count of 0.01 mm.

The eggs were broken out on a flat transparent glass surface using a spatula to obtain various internal parameter measurements. Tripod micrometer was used for determining the height of the yolk and tick albumen of eggs on a table glass. The egg yolk was gently separated from the albumen and weighed. The yolk colour was determined by the Roche Yolk Colour fan ranging from values 1 (pale yellow) to 15 (dark orange) (Beardsworth and Hernandez 2004).

The egg shell was allowed to dry at room temperature and weighed after 48 hours. The weight of albumen was determined indirectly by deducting the yolk weight and shell weight from egg weight. The eggshell thickness was measured using a Vernier caliper after removing the shell membrane and it is represented as the average thickness of the upper, middle, and lower end of the shell. Egg shell ratio in percentage was determined as a result of egg shell weight divided by egg weight Carter (1975).

Albumen and yolk ratios were calculated taking their individual weights as the percentage of total egg weight. Yolk albumen ratio was calculated as weight of yolk/weight of albumen. Yolk index (YI) was estimated in percentage, taking the ratio of the height (YH) to the average diameter (YD) by using the formula: YI = (YH/YD)*100 (Selim Kul and Ibrahim Seker 2004). Haugh Unit (HU) was calculated from the height of the albumen and the weight of the egg. Haugh unit = 100 x log (Albumen height + 7.57 ­ 1.7 x Egg weight ^0.35), where 7.57, 1.7 and 0.35 are constant (Haugh 1937).

Chemical analysis

The content of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), crude fiber (CF) and crude ash in the feed samples was determined according to standard procedures (AOAC, 1995). Atomic absorption spectrophotometer was used to determine the concentration of Calcium (Ca) and Phosphorous (P) after dry ashing of samples in the furnace for 3 hrs. Metabolisable energy was then estimated as ME (kcal/kg DM) = 3951 + 54.4 EE - 88.7CF - 40.8 Ash (Wiseman 1987). Samples were analyzed in triplicates at Animal Nutrition Laboratory of Jimma University.

Statistical Analysis

The data were analyzed by using the ANOVA procedure of the SAS Statistical Package Program (SAS 2009). The following statistical model was used to determine the effects of the treatment: Y _ij = µ + t_ij + e_ij, where Y _ij = response variable, µ = general mean, t _ij = effect of dietary treatments and e _ij = random error. The means were calculated and presented with the standard error of the mean (SEM). The differences among treatments were compared by Tukey’s multiple range test, and the results were considered to be significant if the p-values were equal to or less than 0.05.

Results and discussion

Nutritional composition of feeds

The chemical composition of the major feed ingredients and experimental layer diets are shown in Table 2. The result shows that Amaranth seed contained 16.11 % crude protein; 5.64 % ether extract; 6.34 % crude fibre; 3.14 % total ash; 68.78 % nitrogen free extract; 0.09% Ca and 0.35% P. Similar CP content was reported by (16.1 % D. Ogrodowska et al 2014), on the contrary low amount of CP% was reported by various authors among (13.6 % Gebhardt et al 2008 %; 14.8% Ayalew Temesgen and Geremew Bultosa 2017). This result indicates that amaranth grain species contain more nitrogenous substances. Some of the earlier works also found that amaranth grain species are good sources of high quality proteins compared to the protein contents found in grains of common cereal crops (8 to 12% Koehler and Wieser 2013). Consistent with this study, amaranth grain protein contents were reported (16.6% Cai et al 2004) and in other studies in the range of 12.5-17.6% in selected light-seed varieties (Venskutonis and Kraujalis 2013).

In the current study the crude fat (EE %) content of amaranths grain was 5.64%, high amount of EE% was reported (7.1% by Ayalew Temesgen and Geremew Bultosa 2017) and (8.3% D. Ogrodowska et al 20141). Others depending on species, fat content in amaranths grains were reported to range from (2 to 10% Muyonga et al 2008 and Bressani 1992). Thus, the amaranth grain studied are regarded among the varieties characterized to be high in crude fat content. The high fat content may favor these varieties to bear high squalene level. Squalene in amaranth oil was reported to range from (2.4-8.0% of the ether extract Venskutonis and Kraujalis 2013).

The CF content of amaranths grain was 6.32%, which the current study result was within the range reported by (Altemimi et al 2017) who found that amaranth grains had higher crude fiber contents (1.8–6.5%). The result also exceeded the value of (4.1% reported by Temesgen and Bultosa 2017) and (5.8% Emire and Arega 2012). The current finding indicates that the fiber content in amaranths is higher than common cereal grains: rice, maize, sorghum and wheat

The NFE value obtained for amaranths grain in this study was higher than the value reported by (Adanse et al 2016), who found that the NFE content of amaranths grain was 70.26%. It was also higher than the value recorded by (Temesgen and Bultosa 2017) who stated that starch, which is the main component of carbohydrate in perisperm cells, constituted about 48–69% of grain dry matter 58.8 %. The energy values of amaranth grain were 297.8 kcal/100g. The energy content found in the current study is higher than 251 kcal/100g reported by (Emire and Arega 2012) but lower than the value 371 kcal/100g reported by (Caselato-Sousa and Amaya-Farfán 2012) and 348.9-357.3 kcal/100g on (Temesgen and Bultosa 2017) studies conducted on amaranths grains. Calories variation among the studies might be at large contributed by the difference in their protein contents.

Egg productive performance of Layers

The results of the egg production performance of the experimental layers fed on the treatment diets containing different levels of Amaranth grains are presented in Table 3 and figure 2. Egg weight and body weight remained consistent across all levels of amaranth seed. However, there was a trend towards reduced mean daily feed consumption as the proportion of amaranth seed in the diet increased. This could be attributed to factors such as higher fiber and non-nutrient content, lower palatability, bitter taste, and lower preference of birds for diets containing more amaranth seed (Venskutonis et al 2013). The study also revealed that the group that receive 10% amaranth seed in their diet had the highest mean egg production, which was highest (p<0.0001) than all other groups. Mean egg production declined to 79.56% when the diet contained 0% amaranth seed, which was a significant decrease compared to the 10% group. The decline in mean egg production was more pronounced when the amaranth seed level was raised to 15% and 20%, resulting in mean egg production of 58.29 and 40.07, respectively. These values were lower (p<0.0001) by 28% and 50%, respectively, than the A10 group. Therefore, the results suggested that adding 15% and 20% of amaranth seed to the diet of layers caused a significant and proportional decline of 28% and 50%, respectively, in their mean egg production. These findings differed from those reported by (Popiela et al 2013 and Kianfar et al 2022) who found that a 10% amaranth seed level reduced egg production percentage. No adverse health effects or mortality were observed during the 16-week study period.

The mean egg mass of the A10 group was 46.76, which differed (p<0.0001) from the other groups. As the proportion of amaranths in the diet increased, the mean egg mass decreased. The group fed with 15% amaranths had a mean egg mass of 33.50, which was 28% lower than the control group. The group fed with 20% amaranths had a mean egg mass of 23.14, which was 50% lower than the control group. These results suggest that increasing the amount of amaranths in the diet reduced the mean egg mass. This finding contradicts the previous study by (Hosseintabar-Ghasemabad et al 2012), who reported that egg mass improved when laying hens were fed up to 20% of processed amaranth with enzymes. However, they also found that feeding raw amaranths grain up to 10% with enzyme blend supplementation resulted in similar egg mass to the control group, which is consistent with the current study. There was no difference between the treatments with 10-20% amaranths grain in their diet in terms of final body weight (p>0.05).

Figure 1. Effect of dietery inclusion of Amaranth on egg production %

Egg quality of experimental hens

Table 4 presents the results of the external egg quality parameters studied in relation to the varying amounts of amaranth seed in the diet of hens. The findings indicated that there were no significant differences in mean shell weight, egg weight, shell strength, and shell thickness among all treatment groups fed on the layers' diet containing 10-20% of amaranth seed (p>0.05). These results were consistent with those reported by (Hosseintabar-Ghasemabad et al 2022 and Popiela et al 2013) who also found no differences in shell strength and thickness among treatment groups. The study did not observe any adverse effects on egg quality during the 16-week study period.

Table 5 displays the outcomes of the internal egg quality parameters analyzed in relation to varying levels of amaranth seed in the diet of hens. The results revealed no significant differences in mean yolk weight, albumen weight, albumen width, albumen height, yolk height, yolk width, Haugh unit, yolk index, and yolk color among all treatment groups fed on the layers' diet containing 10-20% of amaranth seed (p>0.05). Throughout the entire feeding period, the study found no statistically significant difference in internal egg qualities between all treatment groups (p>0.05). These results align with those of (Popiela et al 2013), who reported that the addition of amaranth to the diet of laying hens did not impact the mean values of egg weight, eggshell weight, yolk and albumen weight, albumen pH, albumen height, and Haugh units. No adverse effects on egg quality or mortality were observed during the 16-week study period.

Conclusion

• The inclusion of 10% amaranth grain significantly enhanced egg production and egg mass.
  
  
• Amaranth grains could safely  be included up to 10 % in the diet of laying hens.
  
  
• In general, alternative feed resource such as amaranths grain improves the problem of feed scarcity for chicken production particularly layer production.

Acknowledgment

This research was supported by the International Foundation for Science (IFS), Stockholm, Sweden, through a grant Application No. 1I1_B_042487_REV, the corresponding author is grateful to the IFS for financial provision to undertake this research. Jimma University College of agriculture and veterinary medicine acknowledged for providing poultry facilities to undertake this experiment.

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