CANOLA MEAL AND EGG SIZE

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted to study the effect of canola-meal-supplemented laying diets on egg size. In diets where canola protein made up half or all of the supplemental protein, egg size was significantly reduced as compared to a corn-soybean control diet. With the canola meal diets, on a percentage basis, feed intake was reduced by a percentage similar to that of egg weight. Reduced egg size was also observed when laying hens were fed corn-soybean meal diets containing 10% canola meal with various dietary supplements. In most cases where smaller egg size was noted, the energy intake of the hens was also reduced. Measurement of egg shell, yolk and albumen weight indicated that a reduction in a particular component of the egg is not the reason for the smaller egg size. It would appear that reduced feed intake or more specifically, reduced energy intake, may account for the smaller egg size that has been reported with canola-meal-supplemented laying diets. Key words: Canola meal, egg size, laying hens