Interntionl Journl of Poultry Siene 5 (7): 639-645, 2006 ISSN 1682-8356 Asin Network for Sientifi Informtion, 2006 Pigeon Pe [Cjnus jn (L.) Millsp.] Seed Mel in Lyer Diets: 1. Performne of Point of Ly Pullets Fed Rw or Proessed Pigeon Pe Seed Mel Diets 1 2 3 K.U. Amefule *, M.C. Ironkwe nd F.C. Oioh College of Animl Siene nd Animl Hel, Mihel Okpr University of Agriulture, Umudike, PMB 7267, Umuhi, Ai Stte, Nigeri 2 Deprtment of Animl Siene nd Fisheries, Fulty of Agriulture, University of Port Hrourt, Cho, Rivers Stte, Nigeri 3 Deprtment of Animl Siene, University of Nigeri, Nsukk, Nigeri 1 Astrt: Performne of point of ly lk Bovn Ner pullets fed rw or proessed pigeon pe seed mel (PSM) diets ws determined wi 150 (20 week old) pullets. They hve not een fed ny PSM diet efore e study. The seeds (rown olored) were used s rw or proessed (tosted for 30 minutes, oiled for 30 minutes, or soked in wter for 24 hours), ll of whih were milled. Eh tretment hd ree replites; eh replite hd 10 irds in ompletely rndomized design (CRD). The experimentl diets were isoenergeti nd isonitrogenous. Mesurements were feed intke, live weight, hen-dy nd hen-housed egg prodution, st mortlity, ge t 1, 25 nd 50% egg prodution, externl nd internl egg qulity hrteristis. Rw PSM diet fed to point of ly pullets (POL) signifintly (P<0.05) improved hen-dy prodution (67.79%), feed intke (101.50 g), nd lowered ge t 50% egg prodution (180.67 d) more n oer diets. Lyers fed tosted PSM diet lid eggs wi superior weight (66.17 g), wid (4.51 m) nd e lowest shell weight (4.37 g). Also lyers fed tosted PSM diet lid eggs wi superior lumen (11.87 mm) nd yolk (20.50 mm) heights, lumen weight (45.80 g), lumen + yolk weight (61.60 g) nd signifintly (P<0.05) higher Hugh unit (123.63) n e rest. It ws onluded t 30% rw, tosted or soked PSM diet ould e fed to point of ly pullets wiout dverse effet on egg prodution, externl nd internl egg qulity hrteristis. Key words: Pigeon pe seed mel, point of ly, lyers, diets Introdution Hen eggs will ontinue to e n importnt prt of humn diets espeilly in less developed ountry like Nigeri. Alough eggs ontin out 75% wter, ey re rih soures of high-qulity protein, unsturted ftty ids, minerls nd vitmins A, K nd B (Wtkins, 1995). They provide well-lned soure of nutrients for persons of ll ges (Mine, 2002). Efforts t lrge sle egg prodution nd t low ost too hve een hmpered y high feed ost osioned y high ost of onventionl feedstuffs like mize, soyen mel nd fish mel (Amefule et l., 2006). This neessittes e ontinued development of suh unonventionl feedstuff s pigeon pe seeds for poultry, espeilly lyers (Nwokolo, 1987; Udediie nd Igwe, Mterils nd Meods Proessing of seeds: The pigeon pe seeds (rown olored) were used rw, oiled, tosted or soked in wter. Boiling ws for 30 minutes wi ig ooking pot heted wi gs stove. Soking of rw seeds in wter 1989; Amefule nd Nwgr, 2004). ws for 24 hours in 200 litre pity plsti ontiner. Udediie nd Igwe (1989) reported t Hro lyers t The seed: wter rtio ws 30 kg per 100 litre wter. The eir 7 week of ly ould tolerte 20% rw pigeon pe rw (unproessed) or proessed pigeon pe seeds seed mel diet. They reommended het tretment of were milled wi lol milling mhine powered y e rw seeds to llow higher levels of e seed mel to 2.0 hp diesel Lister engine to pss rough 2 mm e inluded in e diets. Agwunoi (2000) fed 55% sieve. The proessing of e seeds hd een desried utolved pigeon pe seed mel diet to point of ly y Amefule nd Nwgr (2004), Amefule nd Hurd pullets nd reported signifintly lower feed Oioh (2005) nd Amefule et l. (2006). intke nd poor performne of lyers ompred to ose fed soyen mel or ontrol diets. Experimentl diets: Five isoenergeti nd Studies in our sttion hve shown t pullet hiks isonitrogenous lyers diets were formulted wi rw, 639 ould e fed 10% rw or proessed (oiled, tosted nd soked) pigeon pe seed mel (PSM) diet (Amefule nd Oioh, 2005) nd t PSM ould e good protein nd energy soure for grower (9-week old) pullets, whih ould e inorported into e diets t 20% of e whole diet wiout ny dverse effet on grow performne (Amefule et l., 2006). The im of e present study ws to determine e performne of point of ly pullets fed rw or proessed pigeon pe seed mel diets.
Tle 1: Perentge omposition of rw or proessed pigeon pe seed mel diets fed to point of ly pullets Feedstuffs % Control Rw Boiled Tosted Soked Mize 36.00 28.50 28.50 28.50 28.50 Lol Fish mel 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 Spent grin 8.00 - - - - Mize gluten feed 15.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 Whet offl 10.00 10.00 10.00 10.00 10.00 Soyen mel 18.50 14.00 14.00 14.00 14.00 PSM 0.00 30.00 30.00 30.00 30.00 Bone mel 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 Oyster shell mel 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 Vitmin premix* 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 Slt 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 Totl (%) 100 100 100 100 100 Clulted: CP (%) 18.26 18.50 18.50 18.50 18.50 CF (%) 6.20 5.51 5.40 4.31 5.40 ME (Mjkg ) 12.30 12.77 12.77 12.77 12.77 C (%) 3.40 3.40 3.40 3.40 3.40 Avil. P (%) 0.54 0.54 0.54 0.54 0.54 Anlyzed: Dry Mtter (%) 86.50 87.50 85.20 85.00 82.50 Crude Protein (%) 18.32 18.18 18.37 18.06 18.40 Eer Extrt (%) 2.00 1.00 1.00 2.00 1.00 Crude Fire (%) 3.50 4.00 4.09 6.00 4.50 Crude Ash (%) 15.50 13.00 17.50 15.50 18.00 Nitrogen Free Extrt (%) 47.18 51.32 44.24 43.44 40.60 Energy (Mjkg ) 15.43 14.43 15.31 16.23 15.60 *Premix supplied Vitmin A 200000 IU, Vit. D 3 400000 IU, Vit. E 8.00 g, Vit. K 3 0.40 g, Vit. B 12 0.32 g, Vit. B 2 0.96 g, Vit B 6 0.56 g, Vit. C 2400 mg, Vit. B 12 400 mg, Foli id 0.16 g, Biotin 8.00 mg, Choline 48.00 g, C Pntoionte 1.60 g, Mn 16.00 mg, Fe 8.00 mg, Zin 7.20 g, Copper 0.32 g, Iodine 0.25 mg, Colt 36.00 mg, Selenium 16.00 mg, BHT 32.00 g. oiled, tosted nd soked PSM. Eh ws inluded t ut roofed wi orrugted iron sheets. The ttery 30% of e whole diet. The ontrol diet hd 0% PSM ges were equipped wi open (mnul) feeder (Tle 1). The rw or proessed PSM repled prt of troughs nd nipple drinkers. Wter supply to e nipple soyen mel nd mize in e diets. drinkers ws from n over-hed 500 litre wter tnk. Eh ge ell (60 m x 42 m x 40 m) ontined two Experimentl irds nd eir mngement: Point of ly lyers. The mient temperture of e experimentl lk Bovn Ner pullets (20 weeks old) t hd not poultry house mesured wi ermometer hung een fed ny PSM diet ws used for e study. The o ove e ges rnged etween 23 nd 25 C (verge pullets in eh replite were rooded nd rered in o 24 C) roughout e period of e experiment. The deep litter (wood shvings) pen of tropil-type, open- lyers were vinted ginst Newstle (I/O, Lsot, sided poultry house whose sides nd demrtions Kmorov), Gumoro nd fowl pox diseses during e etween pens were overed wi wire-guze (Amefule rering period. They were not de-eked ut were dend Oioh, 2005). The pullets were fed hik diet wormed t 18 weeks of ge. (mize 45%, soyen mel 25%, mize gluten feed 8%, The feeder troughs were demrted wi flt luminum lol fish mel 2%, spent grin 10%, whet offl 6.50%, sheets to prevent feed from one replite or tretment one mel 3% vitmin premix 0.25% nd slt 0.25%) mixing wi noer nd is lso prevented irds from t ontined 20.57% CP, 3.70% CF, 1.32% C, 0.67% one replite feeding from noer. The lyers were fed P, 1.07% lysine, 0.30% meionine nd 12.97 MJkg ME 2 times dily (7.30-8.00 m nd 1.30-2.00 pm), wi t e pullet hik (0-56 dys) stge. At e grower stge feed llowne of 120 g per lyer per dy. Wter ws (5626 dys), e pullets were fed grower diet provided d liitum. ontining 37% mize, 1% lol fish mel, 12% spent grin, 22.50% mize gluten feed, 15% whet offl, 9% Experimentl design nd dt olletion: The soyen mel, 3% one mel, 0.25% vitmin premix experimentl design ws ompletely rndomized design nd 0.25% slt. The CP, CF, C, P, lysine, meionine (CRD). There were five tretments, eh replited ree nd ME ontents were 15.24, 4.27, 1.03, 0.51, 0.69, times. There were 10 irds per replite. 0.26% nd 12.65 MJkg, respetively. The numer of eggs lid per replite ws reorded nd The lyers were housed in 2-tier ttery ge loted olleted twie dily (11.30 m nd 5.00 pm) while egg in n open-sided poultry house overed wi wire guze weight, shell weight nd ikness, shpe index, 640
Tle 2: Proximte omposition of rw or proessed pigeon pe seed mel (% DM Bsis) Composition Rw Boiled Tosted Soked Dry mtter (%) 88.50 88.50 87.00 89.00 Crude protein (%) 26.25 27.34 25.37 27.12 Eer extrt (%) 2.10 2.03 1.05 1.94 Crude fire (%) 5.00 7.50 6.50 7.50 Crude sh (%) 5.50 4.00 6.10 4.00 Nitrogen free extrt (%) 49.65 47.63 47.98 48.44 prodution, numer of rked eggs, mortlity nd egg Gross energy (MJkg ) 16.02 16.52 16.18 16.30 mss produed. Signifint (P<0.05) differenes existed lumen nd yolk weight, yolk index nd Hugh unit were determined monly. The lyers were weighed individully nd on monly sis. Egg mss ws lulted s numer of eggs x egg weight, perent hendy prodution s numer of eggs produed divided y e numer of hen-dys x 100% nd perent henhoused prodution s numer of eggs produed divided y (numer of hens housed x numer of dys) x 100%. Reord of numer of rked eggs nd mortlity were mintined for eh replite roughout e period of e experiment. Feed effiieny ws lulted s e numer of eggs lid per kg feed onsumed. Egg qulity mesurements: The verge weight of eggs lid y irds in eh replite ws determined monly (mid-mon of ly) using n Aul eletroni (0.1g) weighing sle. The leng nd dimeter of e eggs were mesured wi Venier Cliper. Shell ikness ws determined using Ames mirometer srew guge (Ames 25M5), lumen nd yolk heights wi Ames (S- 6428, 0.1mm) Tripod ikness mesure, yolk dimeter wi Venier Cliper, while lumen nd yolk weights were mesured wi Aul eletroni sle. Yolk index ws lulted s yolk height divided y yolk dimeter. Hugh unit ws determined using interior qulity lultor for eggs (USDA Chrt for soring roken-out eggs, Ctlog 4-4200 Amerin Instrument Co. In. Silver Spring, MD.) while shpe index ws lulted s egg leng divided y e wid. Chemil nd dt nlyses: Feed smples were nlyzed for proximte omposition ording to meods of A.O.A.C. (1990). The gross energy of PSM nd experimentl diets were determined using Aditi Oxygen Bom Clorimeter (1241 Aditi Clorimeter, PARR Instrument Co., Illinois, USA) tehnique. All dt olleted were sujeted to nlysis of vrine (ANOVA) nd differenes mong tretment mens were seprted using Dunn s Multiple Rnge Test (Dunn, 1955). All sttistil proedures were ording to Steel nd Torrie (1980). Results The proximte omposition of e rw, oiled, tosted or soked PSM hd no mjor (unnlyzed) differenes mong eh oer s shown in Tle 2. The experimentl diets hd no differenes in eir proximte omposition s ey were ment to e isoenergeti nd isonitrogenous. The performne of lyers fed rw or proessed PSM diets from point of ly (POL) stge of life (Tle 3) showed t ere were no signifint (P>0.05) differenes mong e lyers fed e tretment diets in verge hen-housed prodution, perent hen-dy only in dily feed intke nd FCR, two of whih hd e sme trend, while lyers fed e ontrol diet hd signifintly (P<0.05) lower vlues for e two prmeters n lyer feed rw or proessed PSM diets. There ws no signifint differene (P>0.05) etween lyers fed rw, tosted, oiled nd soked PSM diets in feed onsumption nd FCR. Averge hen-housed prodution (HHP), whih ws of e sme trend s perent hen-dy prodution (Fig.1) rehed pek t 2 nd mon of ly t out 23 eggs per ird nd dropped rd shrply to 16 t e 3 mon efore grdul rise to noer pek t week 7. The exeption here ws y lyers fed e ontrol diet t hd higher pek lose to 25 t ws rehed t e 4 mon efore dropping t 6 week. Lyers fed e rw or proessed PSM diets hd no signifint (P>0.05) differenes in eir ge t first egg ly ut ll hd signifintly (P<0.05) lower ge t first egg ly n lyers fed e ontrol diet. Also, ge t 25 nd 50% egg prodution were of e sme trend s ge t first egg ly. Externl egg hrteristis: All externl egg qulity prmeters exept shell ikness were signifintly (P<0.05) ffeted s result of feeding rw or proessed PSM sed diets to point of ly (POL) pullets. Lyers fed rw nd tosted PSM diet lid eggs t hd signifintly (P<0.05) higher weight n e eggs of ose fed oiled PSM diet, whih were in turn signifintly (P<0.05) higher n e eggs lid y ose fed soked PSM diet (Tle 4). Egg wid (dimeter) of lyers fed tosted PSM diet ws signifintly (P<0.05) higher n t of eggs lid y lyers fed rw PSM diets, whih ws in turn signifintly (P<0.05) higher n t of ose fed oiled nd soked PSM diets. Egg leng followed e sme trend s egg wid exept t ere ws no signifint (P>0.05) differene in egg leng of lyers fed rw nd tosted PSM diets. Shpe index ws only signifintly different (P<0.05) etween eggs lid y irds fed tosted nd rw PSM diets. Eggs lid y lyers fed rw, oiled nd soked PSM diets hd nonsignifint (P>0.05) differenes in eir shell weight, while ey were ll signifintly (P>0.05) higher n e shell weight of eggs lid y irds fed tosted PSM diets. All tretment diets produed eggs wi non-signifint (P>0.05) differenes in eir shell ikness. For egg weight, dimeter, leng nd shpe index, e ontrol diet did not differ signifintly (P>0.05) from oiled PSM diets. 641
Tle 3: Performne of lyers fed rw or proessed PSM diets from point of ly stge of life Prmeters Control Rw Boiled Tosted Soked SEM Hen-housed prodution (%) 76.31 74. 41 74.29 76.97 75. 57 2. 27 Hen-dy prodution (%) 65.56 67. 79 63.88 62.79 64.91 2.10 Dily feed intke (g) 88.15 101.50 99.93 94.81 100.69 4.73 No. of rked eggs 4.33 3.00 2.00 3.67 2.00 1.26 Averge mortlity (%) 0.00 1. 00 1.50 0.00 1.50 0.56 Averge egg weight (g) 61.01 61. 93 62.28 62.89 60.23 1.12 F C R 3.17 3. 43 3.66 3.53 3.75 0. 16 Egg mss prod. (g) 1200.07 1187.82 1192.66 1247.74 1173.28 209.58 st Age t 1 egg (dys) 155.33 172.33 172.67 172.67 172. 00 1.28 Age t 25% prodution (d) 158.33 174.00 175.33 177.00 175.33 1.37 Age t 50% prodution (d) 165.00 18.67 178.67 184.67 182.67 3.27 Initil live weight (kg) 1.53 1.54 1.55 1.52 1.51 0.01 Finl live weight (kg) 1.90 1.99 2.20 2.05 2.00 0.17, Mens in e sme row followed y different supersripts re signifintly different (P<0. 05). SEM = Stndrd Error of men. d = dys Tle 4: Effet of feeding rw or proessed PSM sed diets to point of ly pullets on externl egg qulity Prmeters Control Rw Boiled Tosted Soked SEM Egg weight (g) 57.32 65.93 58.00 66.17 54.75 0.85 Egg wid (m) 4.30 4.36 4.18 4.51 4.20 0.05 Egg leng (m) 5.80 6.19 5.51 6.00 5.60 0.11 Shpe index 0.742 0.703 0.715 0.753 0.750 0.02 Shell weight (g) 4.63 5.30 5.60 4.37 5.13 0.17 Shell s % of egg weight 8.08 8.04 9.66 6.60 9.37 - Shell ikness (mm) 0.37 0.42 0.40 0.41 0.38 0.01,, Mens in e sme row wi different supersripts re signifintly different (P<0.05). SEM = Stndrd Error of men. Internl egg hrteristis: Signifint differenes diets to point of ly pullets ffeted dily feed intke nd ourred in e internl egg qulity mesurements s FCR of e lyers. Tosted PSM diet used redution result of feeding rw or proessed PSM diets to point of in verge dily feed onsumption more n ny oer ly (POL) pullets (Tle 5). Birds fed rw nd tosted diet nd did not ompre fvourly wi e ontrol diet. PSM diets lid eggs wi signifintly (P<0.05) higher The higher intke of rw nd soked PSM diets my lumen height n ose eggs lid y irds fed oiled, hve een n ttempt for e lyers to meet eir nutrient soked PSM or ontrol diets. Yolk height of eggs requirement from diet t ontined ntinutritionl produed y lyers fed e tretment diets did not sustnes s hs een e experiene wi roilers signifintly (P>0.05) differ from eh oer, exept t (Amefule nd Onwudike, 2000; Amefule nd Oioh, lyers fed e tosted PSM diet hd eggs wi 2001). The feed intke of lyers fed rw PSM diet ws signifintly (P<0.05) higher yolk height n e rest of higher n t reported y Udediie nd Igwe (1989) e tretments. Alumen weight hd e sme trend s nd Agwunoi (2000). Rw or proessed PSM diets lumen height. Yolk weight of e eggs lid y e irds inresed feed onversion rtio (FCR), wi e highest fed e rw, proessed PSM or ontrol diets ws not inrese from lyers fed soked PSM diet. This ws signifintly different (P>0.05) from eh oer, while yolk ttriuted to e higher feed intke of lyers fed rw or index of eggs lid irds fed tosted PSM diet ws proessed PSM diets wiout onomitnt inrese in signifintly (P<0.05) higher n e rest. Alumen + egg prodution. yolk weight ws not signifintly (P>0.05) different Averge hen-housed prodution (HHP) nd hen-dy etween eggs lid y lyers fed rw nd tosted, oiled prodution (HDP) dropped fter rehing e first pek t nd ontrol diets nd etween soked nd ontrol diets, nd 2 mon of ly (Fig. 1) proly due to ontinued while eggs produed y irds fed soked PSM diets hd djustment of e lyers to e PSM diets, espeilly signifintly (P<0.05) lower lumen + yolk weight n when ompred wi e prodution of lyers fed ontrol eggs from irds fed rw, tosted nd oiled PSM diets. diet t hd different prodution pttern. For Hugh unit, e only signifint (P<0.05) differene The feeding of rw or proessed PSM diets to point of ly ws t eggs lid y lyers fed tosted PSM diet hd pullets inresed e ge t first egg ly (sexul signifintly (P<0.05) higher Hugh unit n eggs lid mturity) over e ge ttined y irds fed ontrol diet y y irds fed oiled PSM diets. out 16 dys. This period my hve een n djustment time to diet ontining 30% PSM t ould Disussion Performne: The feeding of rw or proessed PSM hve used upsets nd ltertions in e metoli proesses of e irds. This ge of sexul mturity 642
Tle 5: Effet of feeding rw or proessed PSM sed diets to point of ly pullets on internl egg qulity Prmeters Control Rw Boiled Tosted Soked SEM Alumen height (mm) 9.78 11.77 9.73 11.87 9.23 0.226 Yolk height (mm) 19.13 18.47 19.23 20.50 18.57 0.281 Alumen weight (g) 36.65 45.50 36.77 45.80 34.63 0.694 Yolk weight (g) 14.25 15.60 15.50 14.63 14.67 0.429 Yolk dimeter (mm) 42.53 39. 07 41. 97 39. 00 40.03 0.261 Yolk index 0.45 0. 47 0. 46 0. 53 0.46 0.006 Alumen + yolk weight (g) 50.88 60.43 52.27 61.60 49.30 0.537 Hugh unit 98.73 105.27 96.10 123.63 97.87 8.228 USDA Qulity Sore AA AA AA AA AA -,, Mens in e sme row wi different supersripts re signifintly different (P<0.05). SEM = Stndrd Error of men. Fig. 1: Averge hen-dy prodution of lyers fed rw Fig. 2: Averge weight of eggs lid y lyers fed rw or or proessed PSM diets from point of ly [POL] proessed PSM diets from point of ly [POL] stge of stge of life. life. grees wi e report of Hoking (1993) wi roiler performne results otined wi pullets in n erlier reeders nd is lower n t of Elzueir nd study (Amefule et l., 2006), ut e egg weight s Mohmmed (1993) wi ommeril egg-type pullets. result of rw or tosted PSM diet ws surprise. It ws Rw or proessed PSM diets lso inresed ge t 25 expeted t e ntinutritionl sustnes in e rw nd 50% egg prodution of lyers over ose fed e PSM diet would dversely ffet egg weight s reported ontrol diet nd is ws ttriuted to nd ers y Udediie nd Igwe (1989) nd Agwunoi (2000). The rd reltionship wi ge t sexul mturity (Shnwny, inrese in egg weight etween e 3 nd 4 mon of 1983). It ws notied t e proessed PSM diets hd ly (Fig. 2) is in greement wi e oservtions of no ovious dvntge over rw PSM diet in e generl Jkson et l. (1987) nd Awosny et l. (1998) nd performne of e lyers when fed from pullet point of ould hve een due to inresed quntity of shell ly. deposited on e egg s e hen ges (Jkson et l., 1987) nd n inrese in yolk: lumen rtio s e Externl egg hrteristis: The feeding of PSM diets lyers inrese in ge (Awosny et l., 1998). The to pullets from POL ffeted ll externl egg qulity higher egg wid nd leng y lyers fed rw or tosted mesurements exept shell ikness. The redution in PSM diets my hve een due to igger egg size, while egg weight s result of feeding soked PSM diet to e lower shpe index of eggs produed y lyers fed lyers (Fig. 2) ws not surprise onsidering rw PSM diet resulted from e reltionship etween egg 643
wid nd egg leng. Generlly, e egg shpe indies Amefule, K.U., M.C. Ironkwe nd G.S. Ojewol, 2006. were onsidered norml nd in greement wi e report of Aynwle nd Gdo (2001) ut slightly lower n t reported y Olerede nd Longe (2000). Tosted PSM signifintly deresed shell weight more n ny oer diet exept e ontrol diet, whih mkes it diffiult to ttriute it to e ineffetiveness of tosting to remove ntinutritionl sustnes in tosted PSM diet. Therefore e omprle shell weight of eggs lid y irds fed rw PSM diet wi oers nd e redution in shell weight s result of feeding tosted PSM diet ould e due to oer ftors unknown to e reserher. It ws lso oserved t e feeding of PSM diets to lyers from POL did not ffet shell ikness. Internl egg hrteristis: PSM diets fed to POL pullets signifintly influened lumen height nd weight, yolk height, lumen + yolk weight nd Hugh unit. Yolk weight ws unffeted. The higher lumen height nd weight of eggs lid y lyers fed rw nd tosted PSM diets ould e ssoited wi e igger eggs produed y ese lyers (Tle 5) nd is resulted in orresponding higher lumen + yolk weight. Lyers fed rw PSM diet lid eggs wi e highest Hugh unit, whih ws similr to ose of eggs from lyers fed tosted, soked nd ontrol diets. This ould e ttriuted to unknown ftors. The higher vlues of lumen height, lumen weight, yolk height, yolk weight nd Hugh unit reorded in is study my e ttriuted to hyrid hrteristis nd e ft t e evlution of e eggs internl qulities were done when e eggs were fresh, not stored nd hd not undergone ny hnges in eir internl onstituents. Conlusion: The onlusion ws t rw or proessed pigeon pe mel (PSM) ould onstitute 30% of e whole diet of point of ly pullets reeiving PSM diet for e first time. Lyers fed tosted PSM diet produed eggs wi etter externl nd internl egg qulity hrteristis n ose fed oiled, soked nd ontrol diets. Aknowledgement We re grteful for e finnil nd mteril grnt (B/2590) reeived from Interntionl Foundtion for Siene (IFS), Sweden. Mihel Okpr University of Agriulture, Umudike provided Poultry houses nd some oer filities. Pigeon pe (Cjnus jn) seed mel s protein soure for pullets: 1. Performne of pullets fed rw or proessed pigeon pe seed mel diets. Int. J. Poult. Si., 5: 60-64. Amefule, K.U. nd N.N. Nwgr, 2004. The effet of proessing on nutrient utiliztion of pigeon pe (Cjnus jn) seed mel nd pigeon pe seed mel sed diets y pullets. Int. J. Poult. Si., 3: 543-546. Amefule, K.U. nd F.C. Oioh, 2001. Performne nd Nutrient utiliztion of roiler finishers fed diets ontining rw, oiled or dehulled pigeon pe seeds (Cjnus jn). Nig. J. Anim. Prod., 28: 135-142. Amefule, K.U. nd F.C. Oioh, 2005. Performne of pullet hiks fed rw or proessed pigeon pe (Cjnus jn) seed mel diets. Livestok Reserh for Rurl Development. Vol.17, # 33. http://www.ipv.org. o/lrrd/lrrd17/03/me 17033.htm Amefule, K.U. nd O.C. Onwudike, 2000. Comprtive Evlution of e proessing meods of pigeon pe seeds (Cjnus jn) s protein soure for roilers. J. Sustin. Agri.Environ., 1: 13436. A.O.A.C., 1990. Offiil meods of Anlysis. Assoition of offiil Anlytil Chemists, Wshington DC USA. Awosny, B., J.K. Joseph nd O.D. Oloseikn, 1998. The effet of ge of ird on shell qulity nd omponent of yield of eggs. Nig. J. Anim. Prod., 25: 68-70. Aynwle, B.A. nd Y. Gdo, 2001. Effet of ommeril diets on egg qulity hrteristis. Nig. J. Anim. Prod., 28: 202-206. Dunn, D.B., 1955. Multiple Rnge nd Multiple F-tests. Biometris 11: 1-42. Elzueir, E.A. nd O.A. Mohmmed, 1993. Dietry protein nd energy effets on reprodutive hrteristis of ommeril egg-type pullets rered in e rid hot limte. Anim. Feed Si. Te., 41: 16165. Hoking, P.M., 1993. Effets of ody weight t sexul mturity nd e degree nd ge of restrition during rering on e ovrin folliulr hierrhy of roiler reeder femles. Br. Poult. Si., 34: 793-801. Jkson, M.E., H.M. Hellwig nd P.W. Wldroup, 1987. Shell qulity: Potentil for improvement y dietry mens nd reltionship wi egg size. Poult. Si., 66: 1702713. Mine, Y., 2002. Reent dvnes in egg protein funtionlity in e food system. World s Poult. Si. J., 58: 31-39. Referenes Agwunoi, L.N., 2000. Effet of feeding het treted soyen (Glyine mx) nd pigeon pe (Cjnus jn) s mjor soures of protein on lyer Nwokolo, E., 1987. Nutritionl evlution of pigeon pe performne. Glol J. Pure nd Appl. Si., 6: 1-3. mel. Plnts food for Humn Nutr., 37: 283-290. 644
Olerede, B.R. nd O.G. Longe, 2000. Effet of repling Udediie, A.B.I. nd F.O. Igwe, 1989. Dry mtter yield plm kernel ke wi sheutter ke on egg nd hemil omposition of pigeon pe (C. jn) qulity hrteristis, hemtology nd serum lef mel nd e nutritive vlue of pigeon pe lef hemistry of lying hens. Nig. J. Anim. Prod., 27: 19- mel nd grin mel for lying hens. Anim. Feed 23. Si. Te., 24: 11119. Shnwny, M.M., 1983. Sexul mturity nd Wtkins, B., 1995. The nutritive vlue of e egg. In: susequent lying performne of fowls under Stdelmn, W. J., Cotterill, O. J. (Eds.), Egg Siene norml photoperiods. A review 1950975. World s nd Tehnology, 4 Ed., Food Produts, New York, Poult. Si. J., 38-46. pp: 17794. Steel, R.G. nd J.H. Torrie, 1980. Priniples nd Proedures of Sttistis. MGrw-Hill Book Co. New York, USA. 645