Vegetable Oils in Rations for Laying Hens

Abstract

ABSTRACT Hens fed rations containing crude cottonseed oil produce eggs that develop viscous pink whites and large salmon colored yolks after six months or more of cold storage (Sherwood, 1928). Lorenz and Almquist (1934) observed that crude kapok oil, the seeds of cheeseweed (buttonweed or mallow), and other plants of the family Malvacea also caused “pink-white” storage discoloration in eggs when fed to laying hens, but that coconut, peanut, sesame, linseed, and soybean oils did not. Thompson (1934) observed color changes in stored eggs from hens fed cottonseed, peanut, soybean, or linseed meals. Because of the increasing use of fats and oils in high energy poultry rations and the scarcity of information on the production of “pink-white” eggs by feeding oils other than cottonseed to laying hens, it was decided to study a number of the more common crude vegetable oils. Each group consisted of twelve S.C. White Leghorn pullets housed . . .