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The Effect of Dietary Fermacto on Layer Hen Performance

Department of Poultry Science, Box 7608, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7608

D. V. Maurice and S. F. Lightsey

Department of Animal & Veterinary Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634-0361; Phone: (864) 656-4023; FAX: (864) 656-1033

J. G. Lopez

Pet Ag., Inc., 201 Keyes Ave., P. O. Box 396, Hampshire, IL 60140

Correspondence: D. V. Maurice

An experiment was conducted to determine the efficacy of Fermacto 500 (FER) as a nutritional aid in alleviating protein insufficiency caused by a decrease in ingredient protein quality in diets for laying hens. Egg production, egg weight, egg output, shell weight, and shell surface density were not affected by dietary treatments. Young hens fed FER produced a higher percentage of extra large eggs. Inclusion of FER improved feed conversion for you and old hens. Statistically significant differences were not detected in protein digestibility, though values were consistently higher in FER-fortified diets. Gastrointestinal transit time was significantly prolonged and determined metabolizable energy values of diets were higher when FER was included in the diet. Our results demonstrate that, under conditions of this study, inclusion of FER at 0.2% improved feed utilization, and this was associated with feed staying longer in the digestive tract.

Key Words: Egg production • egg shell quality • feed efficiency • fermentation feed additive • SCWL laying hens