The effect of feeding different seaweed meals on the mineral and nitrogen metabolism of laying hens

Abstract

AbstractThree different seaweed meals, Laminaria cloustoni, Ascophyllum nodosum and Laminaria saccharina, were fed to poultry in three different experiments. In each experiment levels of 10% and 20% in a basal ration were compared with the basal ration itself.When the seaweed was low in energy the birds showed loss in weight or lowered egg production or both. The high chloride intake when the ration contained seaweed resulted in a greatly increased water intake and a heavy excretion of both chloride and water, but this did not appear to affect the general health of the birds. Changes observed in calcium, phosphorus and nitrogen retentions and balances could be explained on the basis of changes in egg production. The seaweeds had no effect on the chemical composition of egg content and shell, nor on porosity and shell thickness. On the basis of these criteria seaweed meals therefore had no beneficial effects and at the higher level of 20% were detrimental in some respects.In a further, long‐term feeding experiment Laminaria cloustoni (stipe), Laminaria cloustoni (frond) and Ascophyllum nodosum were fed at levels of 10% and 15%, each level being given for 100 days. The results, as far as they were comparable, supported the more detailed balance experiments.