Effective Utilization of Soybean Curd Residue for Chicken Feed as a Plant Protein Source.

Abstract

To examine the possibility of using the soybean curd residue (SCR) effectively as a plant protein source for chicken feed, dried SCR was substituted to the commercial layer diet at 0 (CP; 17.7%, ME; 2.59kcal/g), 10 (CP; 18.3%, ME; 2.14kcal/g) and 20% (CP; 18.7%, ME; 2.11kcal/g) levels. A total of 48 Single Comb White Leghorn hens, which were divided into 3 groups of 16 hens each, were given ad libitum access to water and diet for 32 days. Feed intake, body weight gain, hen-day egg production, egg weight, specific gravity, shell strength, shell thickness, and Haugh unit were measured. Feed intake in weight (g) showed a significant decrease (P<0.05), but feed intake in volume (ml) did not show a difference after feeding the dietary SCR. Body-weight gain had a tendency to decrease with increasing the SCR substitution, decreasing significantly at the 20% dietary SCR level (P<0.05). Egg production did not show a significant decrease even at the 20% dietary SCR level, although it had a tendency to decrease slightly with increasing the dietary SCR levels. Egg weight and egg quality, including specific gravity, shell strength, shell thickness, and Haugh unit did not show a specific tendency. In this study, SCR could be incorporated into chicken diets up to 10% level, thus contributing to the effective utilization of the unused SCR as a plant protein source.