Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate the effect of including annatto seed by-product (ASB) in diets containing sorghum on nutrient utilization, performance and characteristics of the eggs of laying hens. A total of 288 Lohman Brown laying hens, 34 weeks of age, were distributed in completely randomized design with six treatments and six replications of the eight birds each other. The treatments consisted of a diet with corn as an energy source and other with sorghum and inclusion of 0, 25, 45, 65 and 85 g/kg of ASB. Comparing the results, increasing levels of RSU did not affect the metabolizability of nutrients, and utilization the energy of the feed. It was also observed there was no effect on the performance and parameters egg quality, except for yolk color. There was a significant linear increase in yolk colour with inclusion of ASB. We concluded that the annatto seed by-product can be used at levels up to 85 g/kg in laying hen diets containing sorghum as the main source of energy, with the possibility of reducing yolk pigmentation problems, caused by the total substitution of corn by sorghum, with the inclusion of ASB from 25 g/kg.
Highlights
The sorghum, increasingly, have been used in poultry feed formulations as an alternative ingredient to corn
The total replacement of corn by sorghum and the inclusion of up to 85 g/kg of annatto seed by-product (ASB) in diets with sorghum as the main energy source had no significant influence on nutrition utilization in laying hen diets and, in the metabolizable energy values of the feed
Whereas the experimental diets were formulated to be isoenergetic, based on the metabolizable energy values of the ASB determined by Souza et al (2015), and for the other ingredients, indicated by National Research Council (1994), it was expected that the metabolizable energy of the ration did not vary between treatments
Summary
The sorghum, increasingly, have been used in poultry feed formulations as an alternative ingredient to corn. The natural pigments are the most studied currently due to the trend toward use of these products in the human and animal feed, because, as well as improving a product’s colour, the use of natural additives (i.e., carotenoids) should provide stability, safety and to be commercially applicable (UL-ISLAM; RATHER; MOHAMMAD, 2015). In this context, the annatto seeds (Bixa orellana L.) stands out as an excellent source of pigments, since the major part of the seeds are comprised of the colorants bixin and norbixin (BOLOGNESI; GARCIA, 2018)
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