Abstract
A feeding trial was conducted to determine growth and laying performance of indigenous Tswana hens fed diets formulated with four different protein sources consisting of either Tylosema esculentum (Burchell) or Vigna subterranea (L) Verde or Imbrasia belina (Westwood) and commercial diets under an intensive system in Botswana. Sixty 25 weeks old normal feathered Tswana hens were bought from a local farmer and reared up to 38 weeks on diets containing T. esculentum (Burchell) or V. subterranea (L) Verde or I. belina (Westwood) and a commercial diet (control). The hens were then randomly allocated to four treatment groups of 15 hens, with each treatment having three replicates of five hens each. Tylosema esculentum , V. subterranea and I. belina diets were formulated to meet the nutritional composition of commercial layers diet using T. esculentum (Burchell) Schreiber beans, V. subterranea (L) Verde beans and I. belina (Westwood), respectively as sources of protein before the start of egg production. Data were analyzed using PROC GLM of SAS (2002-2008) as a completely randomized design with initial body weight as a covariate. Hens fed control diet had high (P<0.05) feed intake (84.6±7.9 g) and those fed T. esculentum diet had lowest feed intake (54.6±7.9 g). Hens fed I. belina , control and V. subterranea diets had the highest (P<0.05) average daily gain (ADG) per hen of 4.77±1.31g, 3.27±1.16 g and 3.13±1.51 g, respectively. On the other hand, hens fed T. esculentum diet had the lowest (P<0.05) ADG/hen (-0.82±1.60 g) . The FCR was highest (P<0.05) for control diet with 1.76±0.16 g and lowest for hens fed I. belina diet with 1.10±0.16 g. Hen day egg production was highest (P<0.05) for control diet (90±0.87%) and lowest (41±0.87%) for T. esculentum diet. These results suggest that I. belina (Westwood) and V. subterranea (L) Verde are potentially good protein sources for formulating poultry diets.
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