Effect of supplementation of crystalline lysine on the performance of WL layers in tropics during summer.

A trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of lysine concentration in the diet of WL layers with constant ratio of other essential amino acids to lysine. Pullets (528) aged 25 to 36 weeks were fed with test diet containing two protein levels (13.36 and 15.78%) each with 5% concentration of lysine (0.50, 0.55, 0.60, 0.65, and 0.70) and a control with 17% CP and 0.70%, lysine. Each test diet was fed ad libitum to six replicates of eight birds for a period of 12 weeks. Egg production (EP), egg weight (EW), egg mass (EM), feed efficiency (g/g) (FE), body weight gain (BWG), Haugh unit (HU) and yolk colour (YC) were measured. Increased (P ≤ 0.05) EP, EW, EM, FE and BWG were obtained with increasing lysine concentration in diets. Whereas, feed intake/h/day, feed intake/egg, egg shell defects (ESD), mortality and shell thickness were not affected (P ≥ 0.05) by the concentration of lysine in diet. However, higher (P ≤ 0.05) HU score and YC were noticed at low lysine (0.50 %) concentrations. Based on this, it was concluded that WL layers (25-36 weeks) reared in open-sided houses in the tropics require approximately 0.70 % lysine (597.90 vs. 584.39 mg/h/day) in low (13.36% CP) and high (15.78% CP) protein groups in diets containing approximately 2700 kcal of ME/kg in summer.

Preparation and storage stability of meat spread developed from spent hens.

AIM: The present study was carried out to develop a meat spread as a healthier alternative to already existing meat products utilizing undervalued spent hen meat to add a new dimension to meat products. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Carcasses were processed within 30 min of slaughter and conditioned at 4±1°C for about 24 h and then braised along with other ingredients to get the final product. The products were evaluated for proximate composition, peroxide values, pH, microbiological, and sensory qualities as per standard procedures. RESULTS: The mean percent values for moisture, crude protein, ether extract, and total ash content of developed product were 58.75±0.32, 9.12±0.44, 11.19±0.16, and 2.35±0.17, respectively. No significant difference was observed for mean coliform and the yeast and mold counts with the progression of storage period, but samples differed significantly for mean pH, thiobarbituric acid and total viable plate count during storage of meat spread. A progressive decline in mean sensory scores was recorded along with the increase in storage time. CONCLUSION: The meat spread was found to be a good alternative to process the underutilized spent hens for its efficient utilization for product development.