), 15 (T 4. compared to other treatment groups. The overall mean per cent broken eggs was significantly (P<0.05) high in T 4

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1 DIGESTIBILITY AND FEEDING VALUE OF COCONUT MEAL FOR WHITE LEGHORN LAYERS* M. Moorthy 1 and K. Viswanathan 2 Department of Poultry Science, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Namakkal , Tamil Nadu. ABSTRACT BSTRCTBSTRACT An experiment was conducted to study the effect of extracted coconut meal (ECM) on egg production performance, from 21 to 52 weeks in one hundred and eighty Single Comb White Leghorn (SCWL) layers. These birds were randomly grouped into five treatments with three replicates of twelve birds each. The treatment groups consisted of 0 (T 1 ), 5 (T 2 ), 10 (T 3 ), 15 (T 4 ) and 20 per cent (T 5 ) coconut meal inclusion in the egg type chicken diet. No significant difference was observed in overall mean feed consumption, feed conversion ratio and livability during the experimental period. Both overall hen housed and hen day egg production significantly (P<0.05) reduced in T 5 compared to other treatment groups. The overall mean per cent broken eggs was significantly (P<0.05) high in T 4 and T 5 compared to control group. Based upon this study, it is recommended to include the coconut meal up to 10 per cent in egg type ration for better egg production Key words: Extracted coconut meal, White Leghorn layers, egg production, feed efficiency The coconut plant is grown in more than 80 countries in the world. Indonesia and Philippines are the first and second largest coconut producing countries in the world. India is the third largest coconut producing country and it is cultivated in an area of about 1.78 million hectares. The world annual coconut production was million tonnes which yielded about 1.80 million tonnes of coconut meal. India s coconut meal production was 0.28 million tonnes which was about 15.4 per cent of world production (FAO, 2004). In India, Kerala is the largest producer of coconut followed by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. In poultry production, the expenditure towards feed is more than 75 per cent and it consists of nearly 35 per cent oil cakes / meals as a protein source. Inclusion of locally available oil cakes / meals in poultry feed formulation helps in reduction of feed cost. MATERIALS AND METHODS Proximate and amino acid analysis The collected coconut meal samples and formulated experimental diets were subjected to proximate analysis as per AOAC (1995). The amino acids content of extracted coconut meal were * Part of the Ph.D., Thesis submitted by the first author to Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chennai. 1 Associate Professor, Department of Poultry Science, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Namakkal - 2, Tamil Nadu (Corresponding author e.mail: namakkalmoorthy@yahoo.com). 2 Professor and Head (Retired), VUTRC, Erode. 196

2 Moorthy and Viswanathan analyzed after sealed tube hydrolysis with 6N HCl (Spackman et al., 1958; Finalyson, 1964) in Shimadzu HPLC systems using fluorescent detector with O-opthalaldehyde dye. Metabolic trial was conducted as per the standard procedure (Sibbald, 1976). Ileal digestibility trial The ileal digestibility of ECM was studied by using titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) as indicator. Adult cockerels were fed with ECM containing TiO 2 at the rate of 5 g/kg for five days. On sixth day, the birds were slaughtered and terminal ileal contents (terminal ileum was defined as equaling the length of the ceca plus one to two cm from caecal ending, to one cm from the ileo-caecal junction - Danicke et al., 1997) were squeezed out immediately into a container. The ileal contents were analyzed for dry matter, crude protein, ether extract and crude fibre contents (AOAC, 1995) and amino acid composition (Spackman et al., 1958; Finalyson, 1964). The titanium dioxide concentration in the ileal content was estimated (Myers et al., 2004). The ileal digestibility was calculated for dry matter, crude protein, ether extract, crude fibre and amino acids (Reddy, 2001) as follows Digestibility coefficient of a nutrient % of % of Indicator Nutrient (TiO 2 ) in in ileal ECM Content = X X % of % of Indicator (TiO 2 ) nutrient in in ileal contents ECM Biological experiment Experimental design and allocation of birds One hundred and eighty Single Comb White Leghorn pullets at the age of 16 weeks were purchased and reared for adaptation up to 20 weeks of age. The birds were weighed, leg banded and randomly allotted into five treatment groups with three replicates of 12 birds each. Experimental treatments were T 1 - Control T 2-5 per cent extracted coconut meal T 3-10 per cent extracted coconut meal T 4-15 per cent extracted coconut meal T 5-20 per cent extracted coconut meal Experimental diet The protein concentrate was prepared on isocaloric and isonitrogenous basis to the extracted coconut meal by mixing locally available extracted groundnut meal, extracted sunflower meal and deoiled rice bran. The experimental diets were prepared as per BIS (1992) by replacing protein concentrate with extracted coconut meal in graded levels of 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 per cent. Statistical analysis All the parametric data obtained in this study were subjected to analysis of variance using statistical techniques as per the method of Snedecor and Cochran (1989). Angular transformation was applied to percentages wherever needed before carrying out the statistical analysis. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Proximate and amino acid composition The crude protein content of extracted coconut meal (ECM) was per cent (Table 1). Most of the nutrient composition of extracted coconut meal (ECM) estimated in this experiment 197

3 Digestibility and feeding... was comparable to those listed in NRC (1994). The observed AME (1552 kcal/kg) was in close agreement with NRC value (1525 kcal/kg). The lysine and methionine content of ECM were 0.59 and 0.34 per cent, respectively. The critical amino acids, lysine (0.59 per cent) and methionine (0.34 per cent) were lower in ECM compared to values given in NRC (1994) for other vegetable protein sources, which are commonly used in poultry feed like soybean meal (2.69 and 0.62 per cent) sunflower meal (1.00 and 0.50 per cent) and groundnut meal (1.54 and 0.54 per cent). However, this was in agreement with the findings of Creswell and Brooks (1971) who observed extremely low level of lysine (0.48 per cent) and methionine (0.37 per cent) in coconut meal when compared to other protein sources used in poultry feed. The glutamic acid (2.70 per cent), leucine (2.36 per cent) and arginine (1.99 per cent) contents were very high in ECM and among this high arginine might interact with lysine as observed by Leeson and Summers, (2001). Ileal digestibility The ileal digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, ether extract, crude fibre and nitrogen free extract were 67.58, 71.61, 62.67, and per cent, respectively (Table 2). Creswell and Brooks (1971) conducted digestibility trial in pigs using coconut meal (Dry matter 89.90; Crude protein 20.90; Crude fibre 10.50; Ether extract 5.80; NFE and Total ash 6.50 per cent) and reported that the digestibility coefficient of dry matter, crude protein, NFE and ether extract as 83.70, 50.70, and 100 per cent respectively, which evidently exhibits variation in the digestibility of coconut meal among monogastrics. In another experiment, Lekule et al. (1986) observed a low protein digestibility of coconut meal (56.30 per cent) in pigs and stated that the protein retention was reduced when high level (30 per cent) of coconut meal was included in the diet. Egg production Hen housed egg production (HHEP) The production performance of SCWL layers fed diet with different levels of extracted coconut meal is presented in Table 3. No significant difference in hen housed egg production was observed between treatment groups up to 32 weeks of age. Hen housed egg production in T 4 and T 5 was significantly (P<0.05) reduced compared to control during 33 to 40 weeks of age. Highly significant (P<0.01) increase in HHEP was observed in T 1, T 2 and T 3 compared to other treatment groups from 41 to 48 weeks of age. However, no difference was observed up to 10 per cent level of extracted coconut meal in the diet compared to control group. The overall hen housed egg production of 20 per cent coconut meal fed group was significantly (P<0.05) low (199.14) compared to other treatment groups during the period from 21 to 52 weeks of age. The observation of this study differed from the earlier report of Wignjosoesaspro et al. (1972) and Kawsar et al. (2001). The reduction in hen housed egg production might be due to lower digestibility of coconut meal as observed in the ileal digestibility trial. The SCWL layers fed diet containing 15 and 20 per cent extracted coconut meal showed significant (P<0.05) reduction in hen housed egg production from 33 to 40 weeks and from 41 to 52 weeks (P<0.01) of age compared to control during the study period from 21 to 52 weeks of age. Hen day egg production (HDEP) The analyses of variance of data on overall mean (21 to 52 weeks) per cent HDEP showed significant (P<0.05) difference between treatment groups. Comparison of overall mean indicated that 198

4 T 5 had significantly (P<0.05) lower HDEP than other treatment groups. When coconut meal was fed to SCWL layers from 21 to 52 weeks of age, the statistical analysis showed significant decline in hen day egg production starting from 33 to 36 weeks of age. T 3, T 4 and T 5 had significantly lesser hen day egg production when compared to control during 33 to 36 weeks of age. The same trend was continued in T 4 and T 5 groups from 41 to 52 weeks of age. However, overall mean showed significant (P<0.05) reduction in hen day egg production in T 5 compared to other groups. This was contrary to the findings of Kawsar et al. (2001) who reported that per cent hen day production was higher (80.1) in Star Cross Brown- 579 commercial layers fed on diet containing 20 per cent coconut meal and 12 per cent soybean meal when compared to 20 per cent coconut meal and 10 per cent fish meal diet (77.8 per cent). Similarly, Thomas and Scott (1962) reported better egg production in White Leghorn layers fed diet containing 30 per cent coconut meal supplemented with 7.5 per cent fish meal. Padhi et al. (2003) recorded significantly (P<0.05) higher number of eggs (54.0) in Nicobari hens fed diet containing 5 per cent coconut meal during the 100 days of experimental period from 30 weeks of age. However, the number of eggs laid by hens fed diet containing 0 (37.0), 10 (40.0) and 15 (40.0) per cent coconut meal did not differ significantly during the study period. Panigrahi (1989) observed no significant difference in hen day egg production of Shaver Star Cross-288 hens fed diet containing 40 per cent coconut meal with high fat content (22.9 per cent). This was contrary to the findings of this study, where significant (P<0.05) difference observed in hen day egg production of SCWL layers fed diet containing Moorthy and Viswanathan up to 20 per cent extracted coconut meal with low fat content (2.89 per cent), which was very low when compared to the coconut meal used by Panigrahi (1989). Feed consumption The overall mean feed consumption (21 to 52 weeks) did not differ significantly between treatment groups. But, the overall mean feed consumption was non significantly higher in T 4 (109.74g) followed by T 2 (108.98g), T 5 (108.93g), T 3 (108.76g) and T 1 (107.32g). Throughout the study period (21 to 52 weeks), no significant difference was observed in feed consumption between treatment groups. Incorporation of coconut meal up to 20 per cent in the SCWL layer diet did not affect the feed consumption when compared to control which might be due to isocaloric and isonitrogenous diets. This finding was in agreement with Sarkar and Banerjee (1987) who observed no significant difference in feed intake by the pure White Leghorn straight run chicks up to 6 weeks of age fed diet containing 0 to 40 per cent deoiled coconut meal. Similarly, Panigrahi (1989) reported that addition of coconut meal at the level of 0, 10, 20 and 40 per cent in the diet of Shaver Star Cross-288 hens did not affect the feed intake among treatment groups. This was contrary to the findings of Wignjosoesastro et al. (1972) who recorded significantly (P<0.05) higher feed intake (96.3, 96.8, 99.8, and g/day/bird in diet containing 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 per cent coconut meal, respectively) in White Leghorn pullets from 24 to 48 weeks of age, which increased linearly as the level of coconut meal was increased from 10 to 40 per cent in the diet. This was attributed to poor utilization of coconut meal at higher levels in the diet. 199

5 Table 1 Mean (±S.E) proximate and amino acid composition (% DM) of extracted coconut meal Each value is a mean of 32 obervations Digestibility and feeding... Nutrients Per cent Moisture Dry matter Crude protein Ether extract Crude fibre Total ash Nitrogen free extract Calcium Total Phosphorus AME (kcal/kg) TME (kcal/kg) Amino acids Alanine Arginine Aspartic acid Glutamic acid Glycine Histidine Isoleucine Leucine Lysine Methionine Phenylalanine Serine Threonine Tyrosine Valine Similarly, Padhi et al. (2003) found that Nicobari hens fed diet containing 5 per cent coconut meal consumed significantly (P<0.05) higher amount of feed ( g/day/bird) compared to 10 (88.00), 15 (88.07) and 0 (80.36 g) per cent coconut meal diet Feed conversion ratio (kg/dozen eggs) Feeding of coconut meal up to 20 per cent level to SCWL layers did not show any significant effect in overall feed conversion ratio compared to control during the study period from 21 to 52 weeks of age. Whereas, the feed conversion ratio of T 5 was comparable to other treatment groups up to 44 weeks and it was significantly (P<0.05) poor from 45 to 52 weeks of age compared to control. 200

6 Moorthy and Viswanathan Table 2 Ileal digestibility of nutrients (% DM) in the extracted coconut meal Each value is a mean of six observations Nutrients Ileal digestibility Dry matter Crude protein Ether extract Crude fibre Nitrogen free extract Ileal digestibility of amino acids Alanine Arginine Aspartic acid Glutamic acid Glycine Histidine Isoleucine Leucine Lysine Methionine Phenylalanine Serine Threonine Tyrosine Valine This was contradictory to the findings of Wignjosoesastro et al. (1972) who observed better feed conversion ratio (kg/dozen eggs) in White Leghorn pullets fed diet containing 20 (1.62) per cent coconut meal when compared to 10 (1.71), 30 (1.84), 40 (1.97) and 0 (1.97) per cent coconut meal fed groups. The finding of this study was also inconsistent with Padhi et al. (2003) who found a poor feed conversion ratio from 2.43 to 2.68 when the level of coconut meal was increased in the layer diet from 5 to 10 per cent. But, Thomas and Scott (1962) reported better feed conversion ratios (2.20 in experiment I and 1.82 in experiment II) in White Leghorn layers fed diet containing 30 per cent coconut meal and 7.5 per cent fish meal. CONCLUSION As per the experimental results, it is concluded that extracted coconut meal could be included in the egg type chicken diet up to 10 per cent without any adverse effect on egg production. 201

7 Digestibility and feeding... Table 3 Mean (±S.E.) overall production performance (21 to 52 weeks) of Single Comb White Leghorn layers fed diet with different levels of extracted coconut meal Each value is a mean of three observations a-c Means within a row with no common superscript differ significantly (P<0.05) Parameters Hen housed egg production Hen day egg production (%) Feed consumption (g/bird/day) Feed conversion ratio (kg/dozen eggs) Inclusion level of extracted coconut meal T 1-0% b a T2-5% a a T3-10% ab a T4-15% b a T5-20% c b REFERENCES AOAC Official Methods of Analysis, 16 th ed. Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Arlington, Virginia, USA. Bureau of Indian Standards Nutrient Requirements of Poultry, Manak Bhavan, New Delhi, India. Creswell, D.C. and Brooks, C.C Composition, apparent digestibility and energy evaluation of coconut oil and coconut meal. Journal of Animal Sciences, 33: Danicke, S., Simon, O., Jeroch, H. and Bedford, M Interaction between dietary fat type and xylanase supplementation when rye based diets are fed to broiler chicken. 2. Performance, nutrient digestibility and the fat soluble vitamin status of liver. British Poultry Science, 38: FAO Production yearbook. Food and Agricultural Organization of United Nations. Finalyson, A.J Amino acid recovering in the analysis of some feed samples. Canadian Journal of Plant Science, 45: Kawsar, M.H., Rashid M.A. and Eunos Ali, M. 202

8 Moorthy and Viswanathan Replacement of sesame oil meal by coconut oil meal in diets with or without fish meal on the performance of laying hen. Journal of Biological Sciences, 6: Leeson, S. and Summers, J.D Nutrition of the chicken, 4 th ed. Army Printing Press, No. 33, Nehru Road, Sadar Cantt, Lucknow, India. pp Lekule, F.P., Homb T. and Kategile, J.A Digestibility and effect of copra cake on rate of gain, feed efficiency and protein retention of fattening pigs. Tropical Animal Health Production, 18: Myers, W.D., Ludden, P.A., Nayigihugu V. and Hess, B.W Technical note: A procedure for the preparation and quantitative analysis of samples for titanium dioxide. Journal of Animal Sciences, 82: NRC Nutrient Requirements of Poultry, 9 th rev ed. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C. pp Padhi, M.K., R.B. Rai, S. Senani, S.K. Saha, P. Chandra and S.P.S. Ahlawat, Performance of Nicobari fowl on diets containing varying levels of coconut oil cake. Indian J. Poult. Sci., 38: Panigrahi, S Effects on egg production of including high residual lipid copra meal of laying hen diets. British Poultry Science, 30: Reddy, D.V Applied Nutrition (Livestock, poultry, Human, Pet, Rabbit and Laboratory animal nutrition). Oxford and IBH publishing Co., Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India, pp.15. Sarkar, S.K. and Banerjee, G.C Studies on the utilization of deoiled copra (Cocus nucifera) cake by starting chicks. Indian Journal of Poultry Science, 22: Sibbald, I.R Bioassay for true metabolizable energy in feeding stuffs. Poultry Science, 55: Snedecor, G.W. and Cochran, W.G Statistical methods. 8 th ed. Iowa State University Press, Ames, Iowa, USA. Spackman, D.H., Stein W.H. and Moore, S Automatic recording apparatus for use in the amino acids. Analytical Chemistry, 30:1190. Thomas, O.A. and Scott, M.L Coconut oil meal as a protein supplement in practical poultry diets. Poultry Science, 41: Wignjosoesastro, N., Brooks C.C. and Herrick, R.B The effect of coconut meal and coconut oil in poultry rations on the performance of laying hens. Poultry Science, 51: