The Effect of White Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) Flour Addition in Feed to the Performances of Laying Hens

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of Pleurotus ostreatus flour addition at different concentrations in feed to the production performances of laying hens. The research materials were 240 Hy-line laying hens at the age of 32 weeks. The method used in this study was conducted as laboratory experiment in a completely randomized design with 6 treatments and 5 replications. The control treatments consisted of basal feed (P0) as the negative control treatment; and basal feed added with 0.2% Zinc Bacitracin (P1) as the positive control treatment. The experimental treatments include basal feed with the addition of Pleourotus ostreatus flour at 0.3% (P2); 0.6% (P3); 0.9% (P4); and 1.2% (P5). The observed variables were feed intake, hen day production (HDP), egg mass and weight, feed conversion ratio (FCR), and income over feed cost (IOFC). The obtained data was analysed with Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) with the help of Microsoft Excel and followed with Duncan’s Multiple Range Test (DMRT) to determine significances. The results showed that the addition of Pleurotus ostreatus flour in feed significantly affect (P<0.05) the egg weight and had highly significant effect (P<0.01) on the IOFC of laying hens. However, there is no significant effect (P>0.05) on feed intake, HDP, egg mass, and FCR. This research concludes that the addition of Pleurotus ostreatus flour on feed as Antibiotic Growth Promoter (AGP) substitution at 0.6% concentration had the best egg weight and IOFC.