Supplementation of Egg Shell Meal (ESM) In White Leghorn Chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) Ration

Abstract

Damaged eggs are a common problem in egg production, and adding eggshell meal to feed formulations has been proven to considerably lower the possibility of damaged eggs, enhancing egg quality. However, the amount of eggshell meal to be added to the basal diet needs to be evaluated, given its nutritional value as a mineral source. Hence, this paper determines the effect of eggshell meal supplementation on the laying performance of White Leghorn chickens. The experiment was laid out using the Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with six treatments: T1 (pure commercial feeds), T2 (3% ESM per 1000g commercial feeds), T3 (7% ESM per 1000g commercial feeds), and T4 (10% ESM per 1000g commercial feeds) replicated three times. Treatments were evaluated as to egg production, egg weight, eggshell weight, feed efficiency, damaged eggs, and cost and return analysis. Findings show that T4 obtained the best value in terms of egg production, egg weight, and eggshell weight and recorded the lowest number of damaged eggs, but was not significantly different from the other treatments. As to the parameters of feed efficiency and return on investment, T1 was the best. Based on the results of the study, it was concluded that supplementation of ESM on the basal diet of White Leghorn chickens did not significantly improve the total number of eggs produced and weight of eggs.