Abstract

RODRIGUEZ-MOLANO, CARLOS EDUARDO;; NINO-MONROY, LAURA ESTEFANÍA;  and  GARCIA-GOMEZ, HUGO ARMANDO;. Effect of supplementation with green forages on productive parameters and egg quality in hens. Rev.Bio.Agro [online]. 2023, vol.21, n.1, pp.39-50.  Epub July 01, 2023. ISSN 1692-3561.  https://doi.org/10.18684/rbsaa.v21.n1.2023.1915.

In Colombia, poultry production is an important source of food, providing protein of good quality animal origin such as eggs and meat; however, due to the high costs of concentrates, the need to search for food alternatives has been generated. The objective of this work was to determine the effect of the consumption of green forages of Alfalfa (Medicago sativa), Mulberry (Morus alba) and Buttercup (Tithonia diversifolia) in productive parameters and egg quality. Four treatments were established with a base feed of commercial balanced concentrate and water ad libitum; T1: supplementation with Alfalfa, T2: with Mulberry, T3: Buttercup and T4: control group. The parameters evaluated were weight, percentage of laying, feed consumption, egg weight, pigmentation and weight of the yolk, weight and density of albumin, weight and thickness of the shell and Haugh units. The T2 birds showed statistically significant differences (p<0,05) in body weight in the first study interval and in yolk pigmentation in the three intervals with slightly higher values. Mulberry supplementation significantly improves bud pigmentation without negatively affecting productive parameters.

Keywords : Nutritional alternative; Poultry farming; Forage; Laying hens; Egg; Animal nutrition; Production; Sustainability; Animal supplementation; Productive variables..

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