Effect of processing of feeds by pelleting, extrusion cooking and expander extrusion on the performance of layers Nageswara A.R., Ramasubbareddy V., Reddy A.S. Keshav College of Veterinary Science, Rajendranagar Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad - 500 030 (A.P.) Abstract The effect of processing of feed by pelleting, extrusion cooking and expander extrusion on the performance of layers was studied in three experiments under cage management. Maize-SBM (soybean meal) diet (Expt. 1) or Maize-SBM-PKM (palm kernel meal) diet (Expt. 2) was fed to 10 groups of 4 layers (21–36 wks of age) each and maize-SFM (sunflower meal) diet (Expt. 3) was fed to 4 groups of 11 layers (24–40 wks of age) each for each of the four treatments, viz. reference (unprocessed), pelleting, extrusion cooking and expander extrusion. Feed and water were offered ad lib. Feeding of processed maize-SBM or maize-SBM-PKM diet did not influence the performance of layers evaluated in terms of egg production, feed intake, feed 12 eggs, egg weight, shell thickness and internal egg quality. But body weights were significantly (P<0.05) lower on pellet maize-SBM based diet than reference diet. Processed maize-SFM diet significantly (p<0.05) influenced the performance. Feed intake was significantly (P<0.05) lower on extruded diet than reference diet. Feed/12 eggs was significantly (P<0.05) lower on extruded diet than reference diet, while it was significantly (p<0.05) higher on pellet and expander extrusion diets than reference diet. Egg weight was significantly (P<0.05) higher on pellet diet than reference diet. It is concluded that processing of maize-SBM or maize-SBM-PKM diet by pelleting, extrusion cooking or expander extrusion was not beneficial in improving the performance of layers. Extrusion processing of maize-SFM diet improved the feed efficiency of layers. Top Key words Feed processing, pelleting, extrusion cooking, expander extrusion, layers, performance. Top |